Team:Lund/Communication
Practices
Communication of Synthetic Biology
During our initial foray into communicating synthetic biology and related sciences, through reading popular scientific articles, studying public discourse and especially reviewing the public engagement of other iGEM teams, we realised that the language commonly applied to disguise some of the scientific intricacies generally followed a certain pattern. The analogies and metaphors utilized were often mechanistic in nature, presenting system characteristics was done in an imperative fashion and results and data angled depending on outcome. Curious as to the intentions and implications of this, we investigated what research had been conducted on the ethical and philosophical significance of such rhetoric. What we found was a plethora of discussions and words of caution on what connotations certain words and descriptions might carry. To avoid falling in some of the noted pitfalls, we actively applied as many of the suggestions as possible throughout our engagement with our local community and with the media.
To highlight some of the modes of discourse that often leads to public misinterpretation of synthetic biology, we decided to write a short essay with the hope of inspiring other iGEM teams to also look more closely at what they are actually implying. Good language is the key to conveying information as intended.
