For public engagement, our team participated in “Reptile Day,” at a local museum. While we didn’t showcase any turtles or snakes, our booth did gain quite a lot of attention from younger kids. We used a “Building with Biology,” kit to make DNA visible, awakening the participants interest in synthetic biology and genetics.

While we helped the kids with the experiment, we also discussed synthetic biology with parents, explaining iGEM’s purpose, as well as the basics of what iGEM wished to accomplish. While some of the parents knew the basics of biology, others were quite knowledgeable, and we were able to have intelligent, thought provoking discussions.