Building a society based on the fundamentals of science requires much more than theories and controlled experiments; it is also necessary to share the scientific knowledge we build with society. With that in mind, allowing the knowledge we generate and work with to converse with society, was one of the top priorities throughout our project, because we recognize the transformative potential of knowledge and believe that shared knowledge is fertile ground for cultivating a more just and sustainable society.
Scientific dissemination is not only about the democratization of knowledge, but also about being accountable for all the trust and funding invested in us. In our dissemination work, we mainly target elementary school students through a language adapted to children and teenagers. We believe that the earlier the contact of these students with the possibilities of social transformation offered not only by synthetic biology, but by science and technology as a whole, the greater the chances of new embryos of agents of this transformation forming in the young.
To this end, we explore two different approaches to foster the students' scientific drive: educational games developed by our team that simulate the process of bacterial cellulose production; and a scientific experimentation protocol using a kit developed together with the team from the University of Oslo, both described in detail below. We make it a point to integrate in our communication reflections on the potential of synthetic biology in our daily lives, and to this end we use high-spirited activities in our communication, as well as metaphors, analogies and examples that speak to our interlocutors.
The possibility of participating in iGEM brought a number of learnings, among them the need to share knowledge with peers to achieve high impact results, polished from different perspectives. With this in mind and the desire to preserve a tradition of continuity in synthetic biology activities within our academic community, we founded the Synthetic Biology Club: a multidisciplinary entity determined to cultivate a nucleus of synthetic biology studies within our campus seen from different lenses, ranging from biology to the social and philosophical spheres. In this environment, besides discussing possible social interventions such as the ones we did in schools, we also discuss ethical issues related to the practice of synthetic biology. To us, social engagement and the articulation of science with the relevant issues of our time are indispensable for the popularization and prosperity of science. And that is one of our priorities.
Far beyond a single iGEM project, our expectations are that the Club will incubate new teams for future editions of the competition and remain active in the scientific and ethical debate concerning synthetic biology and its related areas.
Our first experience of dissemination and more direct contact with elementary school students took place at Colégio Madre Cabrini, in São Paulo. In which we tried to incubate the investigative spirit in the students, working not only in iGEM, but in the scientific practice itself. Additionally presenting to the students, what the competition is about and the project we were developing at the time about organic waste disposal through a language accessible to them. We coordinated a critical and scientific thinking activity in the high school classrooms: the students had the time of one class - approximately 50 minutes - to think about the possibilities of synthetic biology and the initial idea of a project that would address an everyday problem of their perception.
As we went deeper into iGEM, the goal was to incubate seeds in the minds of the students, of the capabilities of science in solving modern problems, in the hope that these seeds will germinate to form new scientists: agents with transformative potential necessary for social development.
Every year our university hosts an event called UNICAMP de Portas Abertas (UPA), whose main objective is to present the university environment and a little of what is done in the different institutes and faculties for high school students. Our team made a point of participating in this event to talk about what we are working on. We created explanatory and well-illustrated banners about the field of synthetic biology, iGEM, and the competition, in addition to our project this year.
We took samples of the cellulose produced by Komagataeibacter and Petri dishes with bioart made using fluorescent bacteria, in order to draw students' attention to the project and what can be done in the laboratory. Finally, we also made small “biobricks” from paper to facilitate the understanding of the idea of Modular Cloning (MoClo). As the students participating in the event arrived at our stands, they initially received basic explanations about the three banners, then they could observe the pulp we produce in practice, they were explained about the electrical circuit and how this idea also applies to the roads of the bacteria, could play around assembling the BioBricks in different orders, and ended the circuit by observing the fluorescent bioarts under black light in a darkroom.
Our team actively participated in the full day event, starting at 8:00 am and ending at 5:00 pm. During this time, we received a large number of students and people from the community in general, even people from within the university itself, who showed interest and enthusiasm in learning more about our work and synthetic biology, many of them having their first contact with the area. Although the majority of the audience were high school students (the focus of the event), we received a wide variety of people, from children in the early years of elementary school to older people who were following the event. For each audience, we adapted our language and way of communicating, in an attempt to make sure that everyone could really understand at least the basics of what we were trying to convey. When we explain synthetic biology, we always strive to make it clear that this is an interdisciplinary area, which covers not only the life sciences, but also engineering, exact sciences and even humanities. This is important to show that, regardless of the area that students decide to pursue, they will be able to work with synthetic biology. Ultimately, we believe that our participation in this event was a success, reaching a large number of people who were able to increase their understanding of our area, our current project, and iGEM, and who, in the future, will even be able to enter the university and potentially compose the future UNICAMP teams to participate in the competition in the years to come.
The USP team from the municipality of Lorena organized an intervention in a public school with high school students, in which they were separated into groups and each group would study a specific tropical disease and then write a “project” involving synthetic biology to help in combating this disease. This project was conducted for about a month and at the end the team invited us to analyze and evaluate the students' final projects, in addition to presenting our own project for this year's iGEM.
We promptly accepted the invitation and sent two members of our team, who traveled from the municipality of Campinas to Lorena, in order to collaborate and interact with the USP team, as well as get to know the campus where they work and the project they led, in addition to take our project to more people. As soon as we arrived, we were greeted on campus by the team members, who explained to us what they had thought about our time there. We started with a presentation of our project to the USP team, in addition to the members of the synthetic biology club there and other university students who were interested in the topic. This presentation lasted about 30 minutes, where we were able to be more technical, since our audience was basically formed by undergraduate students who were already well familiarized with this topic and the techniques used.
To facilitate our speech, we used well-illustrated and explanatory slides, with drawings and diagrams that helped to convey our idea. We also took the cellulose produced by Komagataeibacter to demonstrate in practice the central theme of our project, in addition to a burn ointment made from bacterial cellulose by a team from the UNESP campus Rio Claro, which shows an application of our idea in the health area. At the end of this presentation, we were able to talk better with the team and answer the questions that were asked, strengthening ties and creating a bridge for sharing the knowledge created by the “sister” universities.
After the presentation at the university, we went in the afternoon to the school where the USP team had prepared the intervention. At school we presented our project again, this time to high school students, which made us use a more accessible language, different from what had been done earlier at USP. This presentation was shorter due to school schedules, and in it we cherished closer contact with the students, trying to give this moment a more relaxed and less formal tone to allow them to feel comfortable to question and interact.
We noticed that the students showed interest in the topic we discussed, listening carefully and sometimes even participating in the conversation. At the end of our talk, we showed bacterial cellulose, which increased listeners' interest in the topic, and made them more curious about what that substance was and how we had managed to produce it in the laboratory. When we finished our presentation, it was time to watch the presentation of the projects made by the students and judge them according to predefined criteria by the USP team.
We noticed that the students did very well in the assembly and creation of their projects in synthetic biology, as well as in their presentations. The slides used were well assembled and the solutions brought by them for the disease studied were well designed, showing that they were able to form a good theoretical and practical basis on the topic, and that they were very well monitored by the USP team. We understand that our trip to Lorena was very fruitful, because while we were able to meet and collaborate with a Brazilian team participating in the iGEM, meet new people who are engaged in the same as we are, we also contributed to the dissemination of synthetic biology in basic education, leading to to intellectual growth and a gain for all parties involved.
Our team proposed an intervention at Louveira city to present our project as part of a science fair organized by the students with the help of the teachers. Three of our team members, along with our newly founded Synbio Club members were directly involved in the activity, sharing different background training expertises, representing the multidisciplinarity of synthetic biology. We arranged three moments for this dynamic, which lasted about 4 hours in total. In the first moment, we introduced synthetic biology to the students, as well as iGEM and the project we chose to participate in the competition. To assist in this presentation, we used banners with relevant information, while elucidating the biochemical issues that would be important for conducting the second stage.
These presentations were prepared in a way to adapt our language to the audience (senior high school students), so that the language used was easier to understand, ensuring everyone was equally following the information presented. We also presented 3D printer molds used to grow BC sheets into specific formats, and the sheets itself, in order to stimulate the students with an attractive and palpable topic. After the presentation, we moved on to the second moment, when we conducted a practical experiment concerning the growth of Komagataeibacter in different sugar sources, developed by the cellumi-nati partnership. The assay consists of using green tea as a culture medium for the bacteria, with varying carbon sources in different tubes with the tea, in order to analyze the variation of bacterial growth.
We allowed students to participate in every step of the experiment, from organizing the tubes to inoculating the bacteria, taking advantage of each step to explain the whole experiment and how it should be done in the laboratory, including safety procedures. We tried to stimulate their curiosity, always asking what they thought would happen, how the experiment should follow, the appearance of the tubes, etc. With the bacteria inoculated into each tube, we explained that it would take about a week before there were any visible results in the experiment. As an alternative for students to monitor the growth of the bacteria in a practical way, we asked them to pay attention to the cellulose film that would form on the upper part of the medium. As an example of what they would find as the bacteria grew, we took with us a tube with the bacteria already inoculated for a longer time in HS medium, with the cellulose film visible. We encouraged the students to follow the experiment on a daily basis, photographing and documenting any different aspects they would observe and send us this data.This experiment was a success and the students showed a lot of interest and excitement as they set up the tubes, and actually followed the experiment throughout the week, sending us photos and notes.
For the third moment, we brought with us a digital game that we have developed based on the metabolism of the bacteria's growth and cellulose production. The main goal of this game is to balance the enzymes concentration in each pathway in order to lead the bacteria to maximum cellulose production, without being harmful for its growth. The game was available at a computer and the students took turns trying to “win” the challenge, and one of them actually succeeded. This moment greatly engaged the students, who made an effort in understanding the metabolic routes and, consequently, reaching the highest cellulose sheet production. By the end, we thank the students who followed us throughout this intervention and made ourselves available to help them in whatever was necessary, both to follow the experiment and in any other questions they had. With that, we believe that our visit to this school had a very significant impact for those students, who learned a lot and were able to have fun at the same time. For our team we were able to improve our impact in the world by taking the studies of synthetic biology to more people.
An opportunity for a joint action arose by contacting the Ui_Oslo team, in which tools for education and public dissemination were developed, highlighting the importance of scientific outreach. Such action involved a practical experiment to analyse growth of Komagataeibacter in different sugar sources. Together with the Oslo team, we built a toolbox for teaching synthetic biology and the cellulose production process. Bearing in mind the possibility of taking such kits to elementary schools, we contribute to the dissemination of knowledge and performance in this very important area.
The kit consists of a practical Komagataeibacter cultivation activity, complemented by infographics, oral demonstrations and a virtual BC Growth game. To avoid any type of contamination of students in schools, it is important to transport the bacteria in a closed tube and to use disposable swabs. Students not only can, but should also participate in all processes of such experiment. The activity also includes explanation and contextualization of each step involved in the laboratory and its safety procedures. As the bacterium has a slow growth rate, the students will have to keep up with this phenomenon by themselves, however, they are instructed on what to observe. After attending the schools, we shared the results with the Oslo team, in order to compare with their performance, once it was implemented in Norway and Brazil for high school and elementary school students.
Following the goal of science communication and popularization of Synthetic Biology in this project, the Bacterial Cellulose Game ("BC Game") was developed. The game can demonstrate, in practical terms, how important it is to regulate metabolic pathways so that the production of cellulose doesn't compromise cell growth, optimizing these factors so that the total cellulose production of the bacterial colony is maximized.
The game interface consists of a number of bacteria depicting a colony, an overview of the health state of a single cell, gauges portraying the cellulose production of each cell and for the whole culture, a diagram with the simplified metabolic pathways and enzyme concentration input gauges.
Each of the seven gauges control the concentration of a specific enzyme, and by adjusting them it is possible to achieve different outcomes that usually vary by player type:
To reach as many people as possible, the game was developed using only HTML5/CSS3/JS coding, which makes it available to anyone with internet connection and a minimally modern browser. The Canvas API made available by HTML5 makes developing games much simpler, since it makes drawing, displaying and interacting with graphical elements in the browser much easier, and without the vulnerability drawbacks of previous solutions.
Play the BC Game!