Team:USTC/Engagement
To do our share in promoting synthetic biology and iGEM in both synthetic biology workers and the public,as well as improve ourselves and exchange with synthetic biology researchers all over the world, we
(a)developed our Sina blog account iGEM-USTC to share our lab life and popularize iGEM among Chinese universities;
(b)actively communicated projects and ideas with iGEMers all over the world in Asia-Pacific iGEM Conference and Central China iGEM Consortium and bulit friendship with many teams outside mainland China;
(c)designed, handed out and analyzed a questionnaire to collect date on how synthetic biology and genetically modified food are received by Hefei citizens and potentially serve as materials for policies or campaigns making for future popularization;
(d)organized various activities in kindergarten, University of Science and Technology of China and the Science Museum of Hefei to promote understanding of synthetic biology and biological cathode in public, intrigued hundreds of kids and teenagers with life science;
(e)organized a lecture for freshmen in Life Science department to introduce iGEM and how to undertake innovative projects as undergraduates.
Sina Blog
USTC-iGEM is a Sina Blog account created in 2007 when USTC joined iGEM for the first time. This year we team USTC 2017 succeeded the blog and developed it in order to spread science about synthetic biology and iGEM. we upload our latest activities and our daily life in our laboratory, etc, which attract the public’s attention on where we do experiment and what we have done. Every time we share our moment online, we receive hundreds clicks and several reposts. Besides, we also emphasize our lab safety through the blog we post to show that we obey the rules strictly and spontaneously and welcome public supervision.
For the sake of recording our everyday work and making our project visible to the public, we adapted a widely-spread song, called
CCiC
This year, we participated into a great party hosted by Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University——Conference of China iGEMer community (also known as CCiC). During this conference, amazing presentations were performed to show out every team’s creative project. In addition, during the panel session, members from each team came up to the stage to share their memory in this iGEM competition, either the happiest one or the most sorrow one. Besides, we also share our experiences and obstacles we met during the last year.
iGEM Asia-Parcific conference
This year has seen the third time Team USTC attending Asia-Parcific iGEM Conference held in National Chiao Tung University,Taiwan. The 5th iGEM Asia-Parcific conference lasted 4 days from July 31th,2016. More than 20 teams from Taiwan, mainland China, Japan and the United States got together to share our projects and culture. The conference included official presentations along with Q&A and a poster session, which not only serves as a drill for the coming jamboree, but also inspires us with new ideas and valuable advice we can make good use of.Taking an active part in the conference, we shared our ideas and studies in synthetic biology and made a great deal new friends with different backgrounds. Happily it brought us the collabration with Shanghai Tech. We sincerely acknowledge NCTU for their warm services and we gained a lot through the conference.
Kindergarten
Education in childhood plays a vital role in shaping a person’s perception of the world, science included. We feel it of great importance to intrigue young kids with biology, introducing the new generation to a biological point of view for future benefits in scientific literacy and biology study.
In practice, we went to the kindergarten attached to University of Science and Technology of China one weekend this April, and explored primary biology in daily life with over 40 preschool kids, whom are mainly children of USTC staff.
We consulted the teachers in advance and surprisingly found that the kids already learned some basics of biology, a girl even knows that red cells mainly carries oxygen to all over the body! This helped us prepare games and the little lecture better. Relating the knowledge closely to their daily life through comparison and interactive games successfully arouse their interest, while guiding kids to explore the reasons for biological phenomenon is our highlight.
At the end of the 4-hour activity, the kids were even more excited, some said that they wanted to be a biologist in the future. Teachers also added children biology books after our visit, hoping this will help invoke passion for biology in the new generation.
Science Open Weekend
USTC has been dedicated to communicate science and technology with the public by inviting the public to various well-organized activities in both campuses on “Science Open Weekend” every year. It has become a famous event in Anhui Province, drawing thousands of citizens from all over China.
This year from May 20th to 21st, team USTC joined in the event with two activities. One in the Department hall where tourist are encouraged to take a quiz in synthetic biology and iGEM competition, questions are divided into 3 levels according to taker’s age. The other in a lab where our team leader gave presentation on iGEM competition and our project, and visitors can also explore the microbial world through a microscope.
About 600 people took our quiz, mostly primary school and middle school students. Many lacked a basic understanding of synthetic biology but showed great interest in its applications in real life, especially genetically modified food. After our illustration, both kids and parents showed support in our work and wished us success in iGEM.
Hefei Science and Technology Museum
On September 24th, we went to the local science and technology museum to popularize our project and synthetic biology to the public. We illustrated generals of synthetic biology and MES (micro-electro synthesis), clarifying the promising potential applications. Since the genetically modified food has been one of the heated concerns in China, we left out a chapter to introduce the basics of it, rising many following questions and answering. We also made a questionnaire to find out public perception of synthetic biology, especially of GMF. Over 100 copies were collected on site, others are handed out via the internet.
Lecture on iGEM & Innovative Project for Life Science Undergraduates
At the middle of the first term we organized a lecture on iGEM, USTC & Innovative project for undergraduates of Life Science Department. As iGEMers we feel how doing first-hand biological research in a group led by ourselves greatly benefits us in necessary competence as a future biologist, and we want to share how we did this project and what we’ve learned all the way with other Life Sciences undergraduates. We put up posters on university bulletin and spread the news via head teacher of each freshmen class, and at the lecture, around a hundred students gathered at the classroom. We also introduced the history of iGEM for USTCers, welcoming more students joining us next year. Happily lots of students showed great interest in what we do and signed up for Team USTC, 2018!
Safety
We designed and executed measures for handling Cadmium ion and possible production of hepatic gas to ensure safety and avoid negative impacts on the environment. You can refer to our safety part for more details. Last but not least, you can also Click here to download a handbook for safety education!
Questionnaire
To understand how synthetic biology and genetic engineering are received by the public in our city, Hefei, thus serving as a potential background for future popularization policies making, we designed a questionnaire and handed them out both online and offline within Hefei. We handed out the questionnaires in Hefei Science Museum to collect information from both parents and teenagers. We also published it on “Questionnaire Star” and spread it to collect more answers. Valid feedbacks add up to 450 copies so far, in which 292 are from online and 158 from offline.
The questions are divided into 2 categories. Part 1 centers on general synthetic biology while part 2 specifically focuses on GMF (Genetically Modified Food), a heated social concern in China. We also calculated the answers according to the age of the takers. Results are as follows.
Takers are mainly between 11 to 29 years old, followed by adults in their thirties.
In part 1 (Question 2,3,8,9,10), about 7 in 10 people don’t know much about synthetic biology, but 82% people would like to learn about it if given the chance. Half of the takers aren’t sure about current popularization on the subject, and 24% believe the popularization doesn’t prove satisfactory. Nearly 7 out of 10 people know little about our key concept—electricity generating bacteria, let alone biological cathode. Note that the percentage of people familiar with the theme are mostly from the group between 20-29 years old, which consists of possibly mainly college students or post graduates, so the overall ratio may be exaggerated.
In part 2 (Question 4,5,6,7,8), half of the people are confident about their understanding for genetic engineering. Over 80% people are willing to learn more about it if given proper material. As for GMF, people paying attention to it in daily life is about the same number as people who don’t. Only 5% of the takers don’t think it necessary to establish laws to make sure that GMF are labelled out for notice.
Concluded from the results, genetic engineering is better educated to the public than synthetic biology, probably because the former is in the biology textbook in high school, however, further popularization is needed to satisfy considerable people. Providing more convenient access to the materials such as handing out handbooks, promoting relative articles on the internet can be a good way, for most people recognize the importance of these topics and are willing to learn if convenient. GMF remains to be a concern, with the public calling for special labels to mark them out. Biological cathode, as a new yet promising research field, still has a long way to go to be received by the public, and any breakthroughs in this field may well promote the process.
The results also served as the background of our presentations and interactions with the public in latter human practice activities. We would lay more stress on synthetic biology, especially biological cathode, and illustrate it with more examples to make it easier for the public to understand.
To learn the statistics of the questionnaire, see supplement.
Supplement:1、How old are you? [Mark only one answer]
2、How well do you know about synthetic biology? [Mark only one answer]
3、Would you like to learn about synthetic biology if given the chance? [Mark only one answer]
4、How well do you know about genetic engineering? [Mark only one answer]
5、Would you like to learn about genetic engineering if offered proper learning materials? [Mark only one answer]
6、How much do you pay attention to whether your food is genetically modified? [Mark only one answer]
7、Do you agree that the government should establish laws to make sure all genetically modified food are labelled for notice? [Mark only one answer]
8、Do you agree that the popularization for genetic engineering and synthetic biology in China is satisfying? [Mark only one answer]
9、How well do you know about microbes that can generate electricity? [Mark only one answer]
10、How well do you know about biological cathode? [Mark only one answer]
