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Revision as of 02:43, 18 October 2018
Education and Public Engagement
Hosting a Panel
Concerned about how the public views CRISPR, we created a panel discussion on the “Ethics of Genetic Engineering” to create a dialogue with experts and the public. This led us to consider how a general public might regard gene editing. Our team hoped to excite a generation of future scientists about gene editing and CRISPR by involving them in this dialogue. To involve students at the University of Michigan in our research, we held a panel involving 4 professors from various fields of research and the CEO of Swift Biosciences, a local biotechnology company. Therefore, the event showcased voices from the industry, internal medicine, biomedical engineering, public health, sociology and health management. The professors presented on their research and their thoughts on the ethics of CRISPR and gene editing. Students had an opportunity to ask questions and engage with the matter of discussion.
In an academic setting such as the University of Michigan, we thought it best to take the approach of an panel open to the public in order to draw in students, professors, and residents of Ann Arbor. The panel provides a safe space for people to ask questions and allows for experts on the matter to present their research.
The panel was moderated by a member of our team and featured four faculty members who brought a variety of perspectives to the table. We researched the faculty members’ prior work and experience and drafted questions for the panelists in collaboration with them. The featured faculty members were:
- Nathan Wood: CEO of Swift Biosciences
- Dr. Tom Saunders: Professor of internal medicine
- Dr.Barry Belmont: Professor of Biomedical Engineering
- Dr.Jodyn Platt: Professor of Health Sciences Education
- Dr.Daniel Thiel: Professor of Public Policy
The audiance asked several questions at the end of the panel. We hope our panel sfood for thought on genetically modified organisms and the ways people can interact with the scientists and policy makers that design the applications of and safety regulations for genetically modified organisms.
miRcore Bootcamp
The Michigan Synthetic Biology Team (MSBT) partnered with miRcore, an Ann Arbor based non-profit that organizes outreach programs to local high schools. Four MSBT members (Naveen Jasti, Akira Nishii, Matthew Fischer, Thomas Stewart) served as teaching assistants for the one month mirCore summer bioinformatics bootcamp to teach over fifty students basic computational biology techniques. Topics covered in the bioinformatics bootcamp include navigating the GEO database, analysis of GEO microarray data using GEO2R, KEGG pathways, gene ontology (GO), and basic pathway analysis using String. Throughout the bootcamp, high school students selected a disease of interest and applied the techniques learned throughout the program to develop hypotheses regarding unknown disease mechanisms. The program also emphasized developing leadership skills in high school students. We believe exposing students to computational techniques at an early age will help them tremendously in the interdisciplinary scientific community that we live in.
Check out their website here: http://www.mircore.org/2018-summer-camps/
Impression 5 Museum Science Day
In order to engage a younger generation of future scientists in problem-solving through biology, we held a children’s workshop event in collaboration with the Impression 5 Science Center in Lansing, Michigan. We constructed a series of activities designed to engage the children in thinking about DNA, how it orders biological processes in the body, and how synthetic biology can be a tool for problem-solving. These activities included making plasmid bracelets, designing/drawing bacteria, creating DNA necklaces, reading our book, and extracting DNA from strawberries.
As a team, we are captivated by the ways synthetic biological constructs can be made from simple parts for extremely complex applications. After creating the children’s book we had the idea of expanding into more interactive teaching events in order to familiarize children with basic biological concepts that they will build upon as they continue their science education, and to transmit our, we hosted an event at the Impression 5 Science Center in Lansing. We designed various activities to help kids to learn about DNA and identify problems they could creatively solve. We wanted to create an event that would get them excited and thinking about how they could combine different systems and activities to solve problems.
The activities we constructed included:
- Constructing “plasmid” bracelets as a take-home to remind the kids about their genetic construct.
- Designing and drawing super bacteria with “powers” activated by switches, similar to designing a plasmid.
- Isolating strawberry DNA and creating a necklace as a take-home reminder.
- Story time, where we read “The Aquatic Adventures of Bobby the Bacteria”.
- Writing down “Future” iGEM projects, such as problems or solutions in the world that they want to solve through synthetic biology.
- pH and litmus paper demonstration to help them understand paper based identification tests and other applications (in relation to our team’s Aptapaper project from 2 years ago)
We worked with the Impression 5 program creators to develop activities for five to thirteen year old young learners. We read the children’s book we had written to the younger students to introduce them to the concept of DNA. The team asked students to act out various activities so they would consider the importance of each cell knowing what actions to perform at a specific time. To introduce the topic of sensing chemical changes that human can’t detect with their senses, we used litmus paper and solutions at different pH values and then discussed how organisms can be used to detect changes. We asked the students to come up with places where this sensing ability might be useful. Then we had a DNA extraction demonstration and take home plasmid bracelets to help make genetic information tangible. To tie the modularity and flexibility of biosynthetic constructs into their lives, students mixed and match various “powers” with on switches that activated them at different times. For example, a student could choose to grow during recess, or turn invisible when in trouble with his or her parents. Finally, a “Future iGEM ideas” board allowed students to write down their ideas on issues they would like to tackle using synthetic biology. By presenting activities that stimulated both creativity and critical thinking, we were able to communicate the many possibilities available in synthetic biology
