Team:Hong Kong HKU/Engagement

Public Engagement

The 50th Joint School Science Exhibition (JSSE)was held by the Joint School Science Exhibition Preparation Committee (JSSEPC) from 25th August to 28th August, 2017. It comprised of booths set up by both local and foreign high schools, as well as local universities in order to promote science to the community.

Through our booth, we were able to spread awareness about synthetic biology and recent advances in DNA nanotechnology to the general public. We communicated the basic scientific principles and the importance of scientific knowledge to both adults and children of different backgrounds and had a lot of fun teaching kids about DNA through a hands-on DNA Paper folding activity.

We were also able to gauge the knowledge gap in relation to DNA nanotechnology within the general public and, to an extent, assist in bridging it by engaging in short discussions with all those who visited us. This instilled in us the realization of the need for effective scientific communication with the community as a whole, especially where new innovations are concerned.

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DNA Models

We prepared different DNA models, DNA paper folds and posters to illustrate various principles in DNA nanotechnology to the public.

Renowed Guests

We had the invaluable opportunity to speak to a number of renowned guests, including Miss Esther Lee from the Innovation and Technology Commision of the HKSAR Government, Dr. Jimmy Wong, the director of the Hong Kong New Generation Cultural Association Science Innovation Centre, and Mr. David Foster, the Executive Director of the Croucher Foundation, about our interest in synthetic biology.

Explaining Concepts!

Our team members are pictured explaining recent advancements in DNA nanotechnology and how our project intends to contribute to the field.

Interacting with technology representatives

We made use of our posters to answer various questions from the general community and esteemed guests such as Mrs Fanny LAW FAN Chiu-fun (on left), the Chairman of the Board of Directors of the Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation and Ms. Jojo Cheung (pictured on right), the Chief Marketing Officer of the Science and Technology Parks Corporation in Hong Kong, about the role advancements in DNA nanotechnology may play in their lives in the future.

Teaching Secondary School students

We spoke to secondary students introducing them to the fundamental concepts of synthetic biology and DNA nanotechnology. We hope to inspire the coming generations to actively participate in this field.

Teaching all members of the community

Members of the community were especially interested in learning about DNA through the DNA paper folding activity we had prepared.

The closing ceremony

The Joint School Science Exhibition finally came to a fruitful close on 28th August 2017.The closing ceremony was concluded by an inspiring speech by Mr. Lam Chiu Ying, SBS, who was the director of the Hong Kong Observatory from 2003 to 2009, about the importance of the pursuit of science in Hong Kong.

DNA paper folding

Children and adults alike were intrigued by the DNA paper folding activity we distributed and had a lot of fun learning about the fundamental building blocks that help make us who we are. Reference: Origami DNA. (n.d.). Retrieved July 15, 2016, from http://www.yourgenome.org/activities/origami-dna