Team:Macquarie Australia/Outreach/SYTYCS

So You Think You Can Synthesize

Project Overview

The 'So You Think You Can Synthesize' project has been the flagship of the Macquarie University iGEM efforts, and intends to to bring synthetic biology to the general public. It provides a forum by which any person with a computer and a question can bring them before a scientist and receive an answer. By sparking conversations on terms with the public, Team Macquarie has reached out in simple language to explain scientific concepts, explain the future of synthetic biology and talk about ethical issues. This pilot project has been highly successful; exploding across the internet, reaching across the world to talk to people across a range of ages and demographics, igniting conversations about synthetic biology and its role in the 21^st century.

Project Introduction

Mass media in the 21st century encompasses television to social media, and is largely responsible for the opinions and knowledge of the public in regards to important community issues. Despite the extensive debate and discourse in journals regarding synthetic biology, these papers are not written at a level accessible to all audiences, leading to an ever-widening rift between academic thought on the ethics and potential of biotechnology and the public. Additionally, sensationalist media is responsible for misinformation and inaccuracies in representing the potential and consequences of the field.

We believe that social media and popular formats of communication provide the potential to close this knowledge gap between academic audiences and the general public. The Macquarie University team therefore decided that they would design a human practices project to address this knowledge gap, realizing that it would be necessary to take the knowledge to the public on their own terms, rather than

• Trying to communicate with the public with scientific terms, or motivate the general public as a whole to engage in scientific discourse

• Utilizing traditional media forms to communicate with the public: minimal time is allocated to science, and the broad range of emerging areas means the public is updated rarely regarding the progress of smaller areas such as synthetic biology.

• As past iGEM teams have suggested, trying to bridge the gap between common English and scientific discourse may involve creating an intermediary language. The Macquarie team noted that if the public is unwilling to adopt a specific jargon, they are equally going to be unwilling and unlikely to adopt a new jargon. Creating a 3rd set of language and terms to stand alongside scientific and public terms is likely to be ignored at best, and confusing at worst.

In light of these factors, it is clear that the scientific community must communicate to the public on their terms. Neither scientific language nor a contrived intermediary will do the task. The public is an important stakeholder, and therefore there is a clear requirement that they should remain informed regarding areas of synthetic biology. The only remaining option, therefore, is to direct discourse to the public on their terms, in a form that is easy to understand and accessible.

The Macquarie University team therefore settled on an online reality show, revolving around a scientific Question and Answer format, to effectively communicate issues that relate to synthetic biology to the public. 'So You Think You Can Synthesize' is our pilot program, run over several weeks, to this end. This format is appropriate because:

• The public can be equipped with up-to-date and accurate information regarding synthetic biology, addressing the failures of the media & scientists. It avoids the complex language of academic and philosophical journals, communicating the technical and ethical issues simply and effectively.

• A conversation started on the public's terms is more comprehensible to ordinary people, and speaks directly to them and their concerns. By allowing the public to express and drive the conversation, the issues of primary interest to the public can be identified or allayed.

• Direct and open communication with academics servers a watchdog function, ensuring proper public oversight of areas of ethical concern, and encouraging scientific personnel also to consider the ethical and social consequences of synthetic biology.

• Our vision for regional forums prompts discussion of a broad range of cultural perspectives on issues of synthetic biology, and allows for those culturally versed in social and ethical issues of their region to address those concerns, in a manner not engaged in by Western, often secular, literature.