Team:Cambridge-JIC/Community/Outreach

From 2014.igem.org

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                         <h1>We also shared our project with some interested groups of school students, and showed them how synthetic biology actually works outside of the textbook.</h1>
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                         <h1>Outreach</h1>
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                        <font color="black" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #E6E6E6">Outreachy stuff
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                        <font color="black" style="BACKGROUND-COLOR: #E6E6E6">We investigated the difference of experience between High school and University iGEM teams. We also shared our project with some interested groups of school students, and showed them how synthetic biology actually works outside of the textbook.
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                    <h2 class="section-heading">Overview</h2>
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                    <h2 class="section-heading">Investigating the differences between University and High-school level experience:  exchange with St Paul’s high school iGEM team</h2>
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                    <div>
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<h4>Lab tour for Summer School Students</h4>
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 +
<h3>iGEM in High Schools</h3>
 +
<p>
 +
 
 +
A lot of people are surprised when they find out that iGEM is also open for high school teams. From the start of the summer, we hoped to collaborate with a team taking on the challenge at a different stage of their education to share and compare our experiences.
 +
We were delighted when we had the opportunity to contact St Paul’s iGEM team. It is the second year the school has a team; the student initiative has bolstered the set up for future years and teachers are becoming increasingly supportive.
 +
</p>
 +
 
 +
<h3>Collaborating with St Pauls</h3>
 +
<p>
 +
We exchanged a number of emails and our communications eventually led to St Paul’s trip to Cambridge. The event started with a small tour of the town and department during which we discussed our projects. As their competition starts in September they were still planning for the months ahead.
 +
</p>
 +
 
 +
<figure>
 +
<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/a/a4/Ktyf.png" width=200px">
 +
<figcaption> St Paul's Crest</figcaption>
 +
</figure>
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
 
 +
<h3>Day trip to Cambridge</h3>
 +
<p>
 +
We showed them the A to Z of Marchantia transformation and took them to the microscopes where we all saw together the potential Red chromoprotein being expressed in our plantlet.
 +
We were lucky enough to be joined during the visit by Gos Micklem of the Micklem lab in the department of genetics and Luke Browning, who is working on a potato protein that may drastically improve the shelf life of potatoes by preventing sprouting of tubers. The group therefore also got to learn about the unexpected partnerships often forged in science, because it turns out that extracting DNA and proteins from marchantia requires the same thinking and buffers as extracting from potatoes (as both contain high levels of polyphenolic compounds which can hinder these extractions). We also got talking about their experience as a researcher. It was a great to have people from different points of the ‘science pathway timeline’ talk together.
 +
The day finished all too quickly and the St Paul team had to head back.
 +
</p>
 +
 
 +
<!-- /.container -->
 +
    </div><p align="right"><img src=" https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/6/6b/Ytf.jpg" width = 400> </img> </p>
 +
    <!-- /.content-section-a -->
 +
 
 +
 
 +
<h3>Differences between Uni and High school iGEM experience</h3>
 +
<p>
 +
 
 +
Together we asked ourselves what were the major differences present between University and high-school level; if these were positive, negative and neutral and how we could bridge any gaps.<br>
 +
The main points that came up were:
 +
<li> more resources</li>
 +
<li> more interdisciplinary teams</li>
 +
<li>more ambitious projects</li>
 +
<li> wider community/more inter-iGEM events organized</li>
 +
<p> were present at University Level when compared to High schools. </p>
 +
<p>However the labour intensive work, the ups and down of science projects were present at whatever level and embraced! </p>
 +
 
 +
 
 +
</p>
 +
 
 +
 
 +
<h3>In their own words</h3>
 +
<p>
 +
 
 +
<li><p>“I think what we were all most struck by was that unlike at school level, it is much more interdisciplinary and seems to draw people from across the sciences. I can only imagine that to be a good thing, especially since synthetic biology should ideally evolve to become a type of computing / engineering."</p></li>
 +
<li><p>"The challenge of iGem became evident as we saw how tough it was even for you to get positive results. I am not sure whether that is a positive thing generally, but in our case it encouraged us to take on our (overly) ambitious project."</p> </li>
 +
Rohani Masouleh
 +
<br>
 +
<li><p>“The most significant difference between High School level and University level iGEM would certainly be the variation in resources available to the respective team. For usit would be very difficult to do PCR, request primers, get companies to sequence the plasmids for us"</p></li>
 +
<li><p>"The most significant advantage of the High School iGEM would be the longer period which we can do the research. This may be something teams want to think about and starting it during term time could potentially help quite a bit."</p></li>
 +
<li><p>"In term of submissions of parts, it would be great if the BioBrick format could be observed at this moment so us over in the High School division could easily do the ligation without needing to have primers.”
 +
</p></li>
 +
</p>
 +
 
 +
<p>Would you want a Mosbi at home?<br></p>
 +
<ul><p>Yes! I think it is a very promising concept. Some of the input that I immediately thought of: O2 content, weather conditions, presence of toxin etc. Wouldn't it be fun to have a plant which could tell you all about the current weather conditions?</p>
 +
</ul>
 +
A big thank you to the St Paul’s iGEM 2014 Team for their time and kindness. The day trip was definitely the highlight.
 +
We wish them all the best and will be following their Wiki with interest!
 +
Good luck!
 +
 
 +
<h3>Molecular biology demonstration for summer school students</h3>
<p>
<p>
In August, Cambridge University becomes home for thousands of school students from across Europe, who come to improve their understanding of subjects from every part of the academic spectrum.
In August, Cambridge University becomes home for thousands of school students from across Europe, who come to improve their understanding of subjects from every part of the academic spectrum.
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"it was great to meet the nuts and bolts of what scientists do, genetic modification doesn't seem so mysterious any more!"
"it was great to meet the nuts and bolts of what scientists do, genetic modification doesn't seem so mysterious any more!"
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+
<br>
<br>
<br>
<p align="center"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/c/c8/Outreach_together.jpg" width = 900> </img> </p>
<p align="center"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/c/c8/Outreach_together.jpg" width = 900> </img> </p>
<br>
<br>
-
<p>We taught them how to pipette and what needs to be done to get a gene from one organism into a plant.</p>
+
<p>We taught them about the indescribable joys of pipetting, and what needs to be done to get a gene from an eppendorf into a plant.</p>
                             </div>
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<h4>Visit by the school iGEM team from St Paul's School</h4>
 
-
<p>
 
-
In September we welcomed what will be next year's school iGEM team from St Paul's School in London.</p>
 
-
 
-
<p>We discussed their ideas for the project they have planned for next year, which involves a James Bond-esque assassin E. coli that can discretely force a toxic plasmid into unwanted bacteria. It is a fascinating idea and we are looking forward to seeing how it goes! </p>
 
-
 
-
<p> We also showed them around our lab, explained our project, and gave some tips about wetwork and how to keep a project on track. We were lucky enough to be joined during the visit by Gos Micklem of the Micklem lab in the department of genetics and Luke Browning, who is working on a potato protein that may drastically improve the shelf life of potatoes by preventing sprouting of tubers. The group therefore also got to learn about the unexpected partnerships often forged in science, because it turns out that extracting DNA and proteins from marchantia requires the same thinking and buffers as extracting from potatoes (as both contain high levels of polyphenolic compounds which can hinder these extractions). We wish the team the best of luck in next year's competition!</p>
 

Latest revision as of 22:56, 17 October 2014

Cambridge iGEM 2014

  • Keep in contact with us...

Outreach

We investigated the difference of experience between High school and University iGEM teams. We also shared our project with some interested groups of school students, and showed them how synthetic biology actually works outside of the textbook.

Investigating the differences between University and High-school level experience: exchange with St Paul’s high school iGEM team

iGEM in High Schools

A lot of people are surprised when they find out that iGEM is also open for high school teams. From the start of the summer, we hoped to collaborate with a team taking on the challenge at a different stage of their education to share and compare our experiences. We were delighted when we had the opportunity to contact St Paul’s iGEM team. It is the second year the school has a team; the student initiative has bolstered the set up for future years and teachers are becoming increasingly supportive.

Collaborating with St Pauls

We exchanged a number of emails and our communications eventually led to St Paul’s trip to Cambridge. The event started with a small tour of the town and department during which we discussed our projects. As their competition starts in September they were still planning for the months ahead.

St Paul's Crest

Day trip to Cambridge

We showed them the A to Z of Marchantia transformation and took them to the microscopes where we all saw together the potential Red chromoprotein being expressed in our plantlet. We were lucky enough to be joined during the visit by Gos Micklem of the Micklem lab in the department of genetics and Luke Browning, who is working on a potato protein that may drastically improve the shelf life of potatoes by preventing sprouting of tubers. The group therefore also got to learn about the unexpected partnerships often forged in science, because it turns out that extracting DNA and proteins from marchantia requires the same thinking and buffers as extracting from potatoes (as both contain high levels of polyphenolic compounds which can hinder these extractions). We also got talking about their experience as a researcher. It was a great to have people from different points of the ‘science pathway timeline’ talk together. The day finished all too quickly and the St Paul team had to head back.

Differences between Uni and High school iGEM experience

Together we asked ourselves what were the major differences present between University and high-school level; if these were positive, negative and neutral and how we could bridge any gaps.
The main points that came up were:

  • more resources
  • more interdisciplinary teams
  • more ambitious projects
  • wider community/more inter-iGEM events organized

    • were present at University Level when compared to High schools.

    However the labour intensive work, the ups and down of science projects were present at whatever level and embraced!

    In their own words

  • “I think what we were all most struck by was that unlike at school level, it is much more interdisciplinary and seems to draw people from across the sciences. I can only imagine that to be a good thing, especially since synthetic biology should ideally evolve to become a type of computing / engineering."

  • "The challenge of iGem became evident as we saw how tough it was even for you to get positive results. I am not sure whether that is a positive thing generally, but in our case it encouraged us to take on our (overly) ambitious project."

    • Rohani Masouleh

  • “The most significant difference between High School level and University level iGEM would certainly be the variation in resources available to the respective team. For usit would be very difficult to do PCR, request primers, get companies to sequence the plasmids for us"

  • "The most significant advantage of the High School iGEM would be the longer period which we can do the research. This may be something teams want to think about and starting it during term time could potentially help quite a bit."

  • "In term of submissions of parts, it would be great if the BioBrick format could be observed at this moment so us over in the High School division could easily do the ligation without needing to have primers.”

    • Would you want a Mosbi at home?

      Yes! I think it is a very promising concept. Some of the input that I immediately thought of: O2 content, weather conditions, presence of toxin etc. Wouldn't it be fun to have a plant which could tell you all about the current weather conditions?

    A big thank you to the St Paul’s iGEM 2014 Team for their time and kindness. The day trip was definitely the highlight. We wish them all the best and will be following their Wiki with interest! Good luck!

    Molecular biology demonstration for summer school students

    In August, Cambridge University becomes home for thousands of school students from across Europe, who come to improve their understanding of subjects from every part of the academic spectrum.

    We invited a group attending courses at Emmanuel college for a tour of our lab and the plant sciences department, and showed them how synthetic biology and genetic modification works at a practical level.

    The students are going on to become lawyers and linguists as well as biologists and medics, and let us know that


    "it was great to meet the nuts and bolts of what scientists do, genetic modification doesn't seem so mysterious any more!"


    We taught them about the indescribable joys of pipetting, and what needs to be done to get a gene from an eppendorf into a plant.

    Retrieved from "http://2014.igem.org/Team:Cambridge-JIC/Community/Outreach"