Team:ULaval/Public Engagement
Education and Public Engagement
It was essential for us that the population be aware of our project and the iGEM competition. We wanted the public to understand the importance of our initiative and realize the benefits of our participation at the competition. Indeed, it promotes, among other things, international collaborations, highlights the direct impacts of projects for the population and encourages the initiatives of the next generation of scientists.
So we produced a short animation to popularize the purpose of the project. This video was then widely distributed on our social networks. We also managed to get an interview on the radio to inform the population about the iGEM competition and our current project. Finally, we created a survey to get a portrait of public opinion and their comments about our project.
According to statistics given by Facebook, our video was viewed more than 1000 times. In addition, we had positive comments about the visual and the relevance of the information.
The realization of this video was not only positive for the viewers, but for the team as well. Writing the text was very enriching since it was a significant work of scientific popularization. All the terms used were thought to make sure everyone understood them. This is an asset that will be useful for future presentations, but also for our future career in science.
Here is the link to the interview (available in French only) :
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/premiere-heure/segments/chronique/87272/biologie-synthetique-igem-ulaval-mireille
Following our interview, we had a lot of positive comments. Most congratulated our initiative and our smart responses. Our entourage also liked our well-defiined goal and direct impacts on the life quality. For us, it was another pleasing science popularization exercise. Moreover, thanks to the journalist's questions, we realized the aspects about our project, the synthetic biology and the competition that are the most nebulous and intriguing for someone who is not familiar with science. We, therefore, know the aspects to improve in our next presentations.
In general, respondents encouraged us to continue this bold, innovative and meaningful project. They were glad to learn about GMOs, synthetic biology and adrenaline. However, some people mentioned that the questions were not objective or that, in their opinion, they sometimes led to a particular answer. As this was the first time that the ULaval team had written a survey, we will use these reviews to design a more robust survey in subsequent years. We are now aware of the shortcomings.
AdrenaYeast in theaters: Realization and diffusion of a video to popularize our project
We wanted to reach as many people as possible with our project. However, synthetic biology is unknown by the majority. So we had to find a way to communicate our project in an attractive and accessible way. We decided to make a short and simplified animated video. Each word used was chosen in order to have an animation that would be visualized and understood as much by children as by adults not working in science. In this video, we discuss, among other things, the medical uses of adrenaline, the current process of manufacturing this molecule and our project with Saccharomyces cerevisiae for the iGEM competition: simple, ecological and inexpensive adrenaline production from yeast.
According to statistics given by Facebook, our video was viewed more than 1000 times. In addition, we had positive comments about the visual and the relevance of the information.
The realization of this video was not only positive for the viewers, but for the team as well. Writing the text was very enriching since it was a significant work of scientific popularization. All the terms used were thought to make sure everyone understood them. This is an asset that will be useful for future presentations, but also for our future career in science.
AdrenaYeast on air: Interview during the radio program Première heure with Claude Bernatchez (ICI Radio-Canada)
The broadcast of the video only affected Facebook users. In order to reach a greater part of the population, we decided to contact different radio stations and we obtained a positive answer from the program Première heure at ICI Radio-Canada. In addition to lasting about fifteen minutes and being available at all times on their website, the interview was done during one of the most popular times of the day, i.e. early in the morning. In this interview, two members of our team, the Director of the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Bioinformatics and a journalist discussed the reasons that led us to realize this project, the initiative to produce adrenaline from the yeast, the values of the iGEM competition, our strong interest for science and the involvement of early career scientists.
Here is the link to the interview (available in French only) :
https://ici.radio-canada.ca/premiere/emissions/premiere-heure/segments/chronique/87272/biologie-synthetique-igem-ulaval-mireille
Following our interview, we had a lot of positive comments. Most congratulated our initiative and our smart responses. Our entourage also liked our well-defiined goal and direct impacts on the life quality. For us, it was another pleasing science popularization exercise. Moreover, thanks to the journalist's questions, we realized the aspects about our project, the synthetic biology and the competition that are the most nebulous and intriguing for someone who is not familiar with science. We, therefore, know the aspects to improve in our next presentations.
AdrenaYeast in examination: Distribution of a survey to evaluate public opinion about synthetic biology and our project
We distributed a survey on the ethical implications of our project on social networks to get a general overview of public opinion about our project and synthetic biology. With the help of other iGEM teams, we got answers from respondents from around the world (See Collaborations). This survey was beneficial since it allowed us to have direct feedbacks.
In general, respondents encouraged us to continue this bold, innovative and meaningful project. They were glad to learn about GMOs, synthetic biology and adrenaline. However, some people mentioned that the questions were not objective or that, in their opinion, they sometimes led to a particular answer. As this was the first time that the ULaval team had written a survey, we will use these reviews to design a more robust survey in subsequent years. We are now aware of the shortcomings.