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Team:York/Outreach
From 2014.igem.org
Outreach
As we are aware of the controversial nature of our project, and GMOs in general, we decided to develop surveys on the topic of ethics, safety and sustainability in this field. Our aim was to find out what the main causes were for discouraging the use of GMOs and to find ways to make the public more open towards our project, as well as towards similar initiatives. We thought that a good way to do this would be to dispel some of the myths surrounding genetically engineered organisms, as well as educate the public regarding the science behind GMOs and the benefits that they can bring.
Richard Huish College, Taunton
We organised a workshop on synthetic biology at Richard Huish College in Somerset, that presented the students, aged 16 to 18, with the case study for one of the projects we were working on at the time. The students were made aware of the steps that we went through, including choosing a suitable project, securing funding and explaining our work and ideas to academics.
Victor Valcovici School, Romania
A member of our team visited the Victor Valcovici school in Galati, Romania, where children aged 6 to 10 participated in our workshop, entitled “Scientist for a Day”. They were given activity packs designed by the York iGEM team that included leaflets with information on bacteria and synthetic biology, educational games and a file with paper bacterial organelles that they could use to invent their own useful bacteria. The kids were very receptive and ingenious, their ideas – some more realistic than others – ranging from using fluorescent bacteria as a compass to creating scented bacteria that can be used in the production of bio-perfumes.
European Researchers' Night 2014, York
European researchers night is an annual family friendly event that takes place simultaneously in over three hundred cities across Europe. This year the event was on Friday, 26th September and York was lucky enough to be selected as a host venue for this event in the UK.
We were lucky enough to be asked to take part in this event and showcase our work for iGEM, this was done in several different ways. We had members of our team at the researchers cafe, where members of the public are able to come and talk in depth to researchers about all aspects of their project. This gave us the opportunity to communicate on a one to one basis with the public so they were able to raise any questions they have relating to our project or GMOs in general. Team members were also engaging the public on a more practical level with DNA extraction. We aided members of the public in extracting their own DNA using everyday household products, they were then able to take their extracted DNA home with them. Furthermore we had two members of our team presenting at the event specifically talking about our iGEM project.
