Collaboration

University of Virginia’s iGEM team: Collaborative Survey

The University of Virginia’s 2014 iGEM team designed a short online survey in order to learn about prevailing attitudes toward synthetic biology in the general public. Through this survey, they aimed to help future teams develop targeted educational events regarding synthetic biology.

We(the iGEM Calgary team) helped out by surveying over 40 people during our outreach events at the Telus Sparks Centre! Many people we encountered had misconceptions about synthetic biology. We were able to explain to them the significance of synthetic biology in medicine, the food industry and the environment. We are looking forward to hearing about the results of the survey and the University of Virginia’s iGEM teams suggestions for future educational events!

University of Cornell: Humans and Synbio

The University of Cornell created the”Humans and Synbio” facebook page to learn about peoples opinions regarding different aspects of synthetic biology. They asked iGEM teams from all around the world to participate!

We (iGEM Calgary) helped out by asking Calgarians their favorite application of synthetic biology, containment concerns and how they feel about ethical issues surrounding genetically engineered organisms. A few of the responses we got are posted below. To view more pictures please visit the “ Humans and Synbio” facebook page!

In general, how do you feel about humans purposely modifying organisms or species so they will be more useful to us?

"If humans can benefit from modifying organisms or species they should, as long as it is done in a humane sustainable way."

How would you define humane use of animals?

“By humane I mean in a way that doesn't cause unnecessary suffering or excruciating pain to the animals because life is precious and shouldn't be mistreated if we can help it.”