Team:REC-CHENNAI/Public Engagement

Public Engagement

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Hangout



Date: 2nd September 2018

Place: Edward Elliot’s Beach, Besant Nagar


Target Audience: General Public.

In order to gauge general public knowledge and opinion on various facets of Molecular and Synthetic Biology, we conducted ‘The Hangout’ by setting up an information kiosk. This kiosk was set up on the pavement of Edward Elliot’s Beach, a beach frequented by all demographics. We started ‘The Hangout’ early in the morning in order to attract the first wave of joggers and families who had come out to have a fun day and we were lucky that the date corresponded to that of a marathon, thus diversifying our audience. We handed out survey forms and explained what Synthetic Biology is. We also gave them an insight into what we seek to achieve through iGEM. In order to engage all age groups, we conducted two games that are in relevance to what we seek to achieve with our project.

Game 1: Red-Green Game

This game required the identification of minute differences between two seemingly similar pictures. If the difference was identified, a green banner was lifted and if there was no difference, then a red-green banner was lifted. The minute differences were to synonymous to mutations and the green or red-green banners were to depict our proposed screening mechanism for mutagenesis that has occurred successfully. All age groups participated in this game and the winners were rewarded. For the slightly older individuals we explained the relevance of this game and we found that their understanding and appreciation of our project and what we aim to achieve increase.

Game 2: Touch-It-Not

This game tested the concentration of its players. It involved moving a loop over another convoluted wire making sure that both wires did not come into contact with one another. If the wires did come into contact, a buzzer would emit a sound thereby disqualifying the player. The relevance of this game is to depict the general necessity for lab technicians to be precise and also stressed on the importance of hand-eye coordination in any task requiring perfection. We gave them relatable examples such as human diagnostic testing and the requirement of the highest form of accuracy within it. This game attracted the younger demographic who thoroughly enjoyed playing it and were inspired to look into Synthetic Biology and its scope.

BT Society Meet



Date: 2nd August 2018

Event: BT Society meet


Target Audience: Students.

On the second of August 2018, the Department of Biotechnology at Rajalakshmi Engineering College hosted a meeting convened by the BT Society. The ultimate aim of BT Society is to improve the scientific understanding of Biotechnology by stepping out of the theory from textbooks. We identified that the intent of BT Society closely aligned with our interests of promoting an in depth understanding of Synthetic Biotechnology among the public and scientific community.

We were allotted a slot in order to explain the idea behind iGEM.The audience consisted of students in their junior, sophomore and senior years. We explained the basic structure of iGEM and the scientific understanding that goes into formulating an iGEM project. We moved further into science, explained our project and about the system that we propose for screening mutagenesis as an orthogonal alternative to the existing and conventional pALTER system. We also explained the need for the simplification of the existing system and the possible commercial and research based applications of mutagenesis. We also showed them a presentation detailing the technical intricacies of our project.

Towards the end of the presentation, we also fielded questions from the audience about our project. Certain questions were aimed at the underlying principle of the project and certain others were aimed at the protocols that we followed in the experiments. Many questions were also directed at the functioning and the structure of iGEM. Towards the end of the session, we realised that the students were highly interested in joining the iGEM community as we received further questions about the recruitment of students in our iGEM team.

We are very proud to have been a part of this event and to have introduced IGEM to a lot of juniors.

Stakeholder Analysis



Date: 1st August, 2018

Place: Chennai.


Target Audience: Stakeholders.

The academic director of Biocon Academy, Mr Easwaran visited our college on the first of August, 2018. Having visited the department, he had a conversation with the students on the importance of practical learning and the need to enhance skill sets within the sector of biotechnology in India.

Following his guest lecture, the students of the IGEM team approached him in order to garner stakeholder input regarding the scope and possible impacts of the project as the human practises guidelines of iGEM stipulate. Biocon is a company that revolutionised the idea of Biotechnology in India and the team felt that conversations with scientists from the organisation would not only help understand the impact of the project better but would also provide a new perspective to recognise. The conversation with him spanned from the technical aspects of the project and extended deep into the societal impact that we may have to face as a consequence of widespread mutagenesis.

The discussion with Mr Easwaran delved deep into the aspects of the need to reduce the time constraints associated with the pALTER system. He spoke about the significance of the reduction of the time taken and the simplification of the protocols and their associated impact in not only a scientific scenario but from the perspective of the advancement of science in itself. Although this specific event did not engage with diverse public audience, it helped the team members gain insights into the future impacts of mutagenesis and the social consequences that manifest as a result.

It was wonderful to have had this conversation with him. We thank Mr Easwaran for his insights that provided us with a thorough and wholesome understanding of our own project.

Swasthya



Date: 27th September 2018

Event: National Conference


Target Audience: Students of Biotechnology, Biomedical Engineering and other Life Sciences

The Department of Biotechnology, Rajalakshmi Engineering College conducted a two-day National Conference called ‘Swasthya' under the theme of Recent Advances in Biotechnology for Healthcare. Observing that our project can hold multiple applications in the future in the field of Diagnostics and Therapy, the members were given an opportunity to explain the project to the participants and invited scientists on the second day of the conference. In a presentation that lasted well over 25 minutes, the members explained the nuances of mutagenesis, the protocols adopted and the overall objectives of iGEM as an organisation. The members were able to shed light on the potential scope of our project by providing relatable anecdotes that kept the audience considerably interested. The members also answered relevant questions and received positive comments from the judges present. We are truly grateful to the organising committee of Swasthya for providing us with this opportunity.