Team:BostonU/HP
Human Practices
We partnered with STEM Pathways to host Summer Pathways - a Synthetic Biology Workshop for high school girls interested in STEM. The workshop was composed of four activities: bioethics forum, where we discussed controversial issues in Synthetic Biology; plasmid design, where we play paper games to visually introduce them to the concept of plasmid, primers and so forth; gel running, where we used food coloring to show the basic principal of gel electrophoresis and microfluidic, where we present the logic behind microfluidic devices on cardboard. Around 21 girls attended our workshop, and they all enjoyed the activities and were impressed by the work we’ve done. Many girls also expressed a tendency to learn more about synthetic biology.
The activity also opens our eyes in a way that shows how people outside of SynBio field think about us. During bioethics forum section, the girls expressed their concerns: “(SynBio) feels unsafe, tools such as biochemical weapons are proofs show that some unnatural inventions are detrimental to humanity”.The conversation reveals that general public are unclear about synthetic biologists’ work and duties. Meanwhile, people are hesitant to trust that synthetic biologists are trying to do good for world. We appreciate this chance of talking to these young girls, understand their thoughts and introduce them to the beauty of SynBio. This experience also reminds us to think about where the bottomline is on our way to pursue more advanced technologies.
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