Team:Stony Brook/HP/Silver
Human Practices: Silver
Maker's Faire
Our team participated at the Maker’s Faire at Port Jefferson on June 10th to interact with enthusiastic learners and students about biology with a specific focus on synthetic biology. We organized numerous activities and games by using three activities in the Building with Biology kit. These activities engaged people from the ages of 5 to adults. Even though these activities were fun, they were also educational. We engaged the parents and adults into discussions about taboo topics that are affiliated with synthetic biology, such as GMO products or genetic engineering. We found that even if they were hesitant to accept that synthetic biology can have a powerful impact on society they were willing to hear our side. With the kids, however, we tried to see what their opinions were on synthetic biology. For example, if one kid would be willing to eat a hamburger where the meat at was made in lab. They offered a new perspective because they have not yet been influenced too much on the pros and cons of synthetic biology. The Maker’s Faire was a very insightful experience for the whole team to spread awareness about a branch of science that is still relatively young and is packed with immense potential while receiving feedback from the community we service.
Merrick Elementary School & Camp Avenue Elementary School
A handful of our team visited Harold D. Feyette Elementary School and Camp Avenue Elementary School to talk about science and synthetic biology with the students in different 2nd grade classrooms. Every classroom was filled with students that were so excited to have us come in teach them about our research and synthetic biology. We again used the Building with Biology kits, and it was a huge success. The students were amazed by the DNA necklace they made and how foods like meat can be made in a lab. After the last classroom activities finished in Camp Avenue, the students kept asking us questions about our project, bacteria, and synthetic biology’s importance, and it was very gratifying for our team to see so many young people interested in this new field of science. The students and the teacher enjoyed us being there so much so that Megan, Chloe, and Juliana were invited back by Principal Ronald Reinken to assist the 4th graders in cow eyes dissections. We would like to thank both principals for allowing us the opportunity to talk to their students and show them a tiny glimpse into the world of synthetic biology.
LaValle Movie Night
Our team went to the LaValle Movie Night held in Stony Brook University’s LaValle stadium where a showing of the movie “Beauty and the Beast” was organized. There, we promoted our Chipotle fundraiser and talked to interested moviegoers about synthetic biology and about our project. We displayed our poster that contained information on iGEM, Synthetic Biology, and our project, and many students, particularly freshmen, approached us and were very eager in the iGEM program at Stony Brook University. Our team enjoyed meeting with the community and enjoyed some team bonding while watching “Beauty and the Beast”.
Stony Brook University Summer Programs
Our team had the pleasure of hosting tours of our lab for summer programs such as EOP/AIM, Museum of Natural History summer program, and Stony Brook College of Arts and Sciences pre-college summer program. The programs consisted of students who were either incoming first year students or high school seniors and juniors. We discussed a wide variety of topics with the students such as synthetic biology, iGEM, engaging in research in college, and a brief overview of our project. Our team was happy to help them with their queries about the subjects we discussed. The incoming freshmen were also curious about the world they were going to step into this fall, so we gave them some advice and told them of some tips and tricks they should keep in mind for transitioning from high school into college. We strongly encourage every student to participate in research when they enter college to earn a truly insightful and stimulating experience.
Our team also collaborated with iGEM Cornell and iGEM Columbia to analyze the perceptions of people within a large sample population regarding synthetic biology and the willingness to receive treatment or products that are bacteria-regulated or have some component of genetic engineering. We also reached out health professional and pediatric specialist at Stony Brook Hospital, Dr. Sharon Nachman, who gave her insight regarding ways to improve upon our project, so that our bacteriocins and hybrids can be applied as a therapeutic. Her concern was that often times, infected MRSA patients may also have other strains of S. aureus in their body, thus we should consider testing whether our hybrids are only specific to MRSA or other S. aureus strains as well.
