Team:UNSW Australia/Public Engagement
Education and Public Engagement
Synthetic biology is the application of engineering design principles to biology in order to develop tools and systems that will benefit society. In order for such engineering projects to be successful, they must not only be physically and technically feasible, but also be socially acceptable. With this in mind, the UNSW iGEM team sought to engage with the wider community, to open conversations about how our project would be received, and inspire further interest in synthetic biology more generally.
During our project, the team developed a variety of activities and resources that aimed to encourage public engagement with synthetic biology research. From speaking to academics our peers, and high school students, we ensured our project was being tested and considered by a wide audience, with our team discovering (and exploiting) many creative points of interaction between our project and public interest.
By taking to the stage in our research symposium and faculty speeches, we were able to share our story, but also challenge the general public to question and consider current ‘synbio’ technology. This work was continued with our SBA published article which summarised our project (and synthetic biology more generally) for a wider audience to consider. We also worked to inspire the next generation of scientists by creating a workshop to bring our project, and the relevant school topics which underpin it, to a group of high school students. Alongside this effort, we developed a package to assist teachers deliver standard high school ‘in-class’ instruction. This enabled us to develop an outreach and education strategy which would have a sustainable impact on the engagement of schools in synthetic biology, that could be built upon in the future.
To learn a little bit more about each of our outreach and engagement pursuits, please click on the following headings:
Symposium
Relevance
Breakthroughs and scientific discoveries underpin the new technologies and tools which benefit broader society. As a result, it is important for scientists and engineers to keep in mind the people who will benefit from those advancements. Community engagement and outreach is one important mechanism assisting scientists to ensure that design is purpose-orientated and useful for the community. Open dialogue with a range of members from the public, academia and industry has helped our team, and can help scientists more generally, recognise alternate perspectives and values which may inform their work – which is particularly important given the variability of community values.
Considered and purposeful design is particularly important for synthetic biology-based tools, as they have the potential to cause major unforeseen damage to the global community. Research has found that many harmful products are the result of designers being unconcerned with the overlapping causes, content and consequences of their solutions (Agapakis, 2014). This suggests that dangerous and unsustainable systems can be avoided by ensuring that consultation with ethics, regulation and public opinion is undertaken.
This is particularly important in an Australian context, given the steep upward trajectory of the field of synthetic biology, and Australia’s place as a significant global contender (14th globally for publications in synthetic biology-associated areas (Gray et al, 2018)). Therefore, it is essential that scientists, particularly in Australia, facilitate and encourage open dialogue with the wider community to ensure they remain aware of public expectations and needs. One way to do this is by hosting seminars and research symposiums that involve a two-way exchange between audience and presenters to facilitate learning and collaboration, which is one of the activities we have run this year (Rowe and Frewer, 2000; Abelson et al., 2003).
On the Day
With this in mind, the UNSW iGEM team hosted a symposium that gathered experts from a variety of synthetic biology-adjacent fields. The symposium, entitled ‘Challenges in the Australian Innovation Landscape for Synthetic Biology’, consisted of presentations from synthetic biology research teams (including UNSW iGEM) and a Q&A for members of the wider community with synthetic biology experts. These experts were;
Dr Hugh Goold
Hugh works for the New South Wales Department of Primary Industries. His role is in two parts. At Macquarie University's Synthetic Biology Research group, Hugh is building Chromosome XVI of the synthetic Yeast genome, Yeast 2.0. Hugh is also tasked by DPI with identifying research projects with applications to primary industries such as forestry agriculture and fisheries. Hugh completed his PhD at the Université Aix Marseille in France and the University of Sydney in Australia in 2015.
Associate Professor Matthew Kearnes
An Associate Professor in the School of Humanities & Languages, Matthew is a member of the Environmental Humanities group at UNSW. His research encompasses areas of Science and Technology Studies (STS), environmental sociology, and contemporary social theory. Matthew’s current work is focused on the social and political dimensions of technological and environmental change, including ongoing work on nanotechnology, precision medicine, geoengineering and the development of negative emission strategies to anthropogenic climatic change. He has many publications on the ways in which the development of novel and emerging technologies is entangled with profound social, ethical and normative questions.
Dr. Dominic Glover
Dominic Glover is a protein engineer and synthetic biologist. He graduated with a PhD in Biochemistry from Monash University and subsequently conducted postdoctoral research at UC Berkeley developing self-assembling protein templates. In 2017, he joined the School of Biotechnology and Biomolecular Sciences at the University of New South Wales as a Senior Lecturer in synthetic biology. His research activities seek to understand and exploit the remarkable fidelity and precision of protein self-assembly for biotechnology applications.
Carl Stubbings
Carl’s speciality is the commercialisation of diagnostic products, both locally and globally. He’s worked in senior roles in both the US and Australia, part of which included obtaining FDA clearance for, and commercially releasing, the first diagnostic test for West Nile Virus. He’s also been the VP of Sales and Marketing for Focus Diagnostics, which involved Carl leading the commercialisation of the first molecular H1N1 test. Since 2012, Carl’s been back in Australia, working as the Chief Business Officer at Benitec Biopharma, where he was responsible for corporate and business development of their gene-silencing therapeutic platform, including developing and executing commercialisation strategy and executing licensing/partnership agreements with large pharmaceutical companies. He’s now working with several Aussie biotech companies on their commercialisation strategies, particularly in the diagnostic space.
This discussion was guided by one of our team members, and engaged with topics as varied as the importance of educating the public, commercialisation, ethics, open source science, and future applications. To see the full two-hour symposium video, which was uploaded to YouTube, please click here.
Presentations were also given by ourselves, the iGEM team from Macquarie University and the University of Sydney BIOMOD team on our 2018 projects. This gave the gathered audience and experts an opportunity to engage with current innovations in the space, and provide their feedback and perspective during the networking hour.
Perspectives from the attendees and speakers were not only gathered anecdotally by our team, but also through a short attendance survey that helped us understand the demographic of our audience and encourage their engagement.
Outcomes and Analysis
This outreach experience framed the rest of our human practices work, with key take away messages being integrated into all aspects of our project.
Defining Synthetic Biology
Prior to the discussions, the audience were asked to evaluate their understanding of synthetic biology. Despite over 97% of the attendants having heard of the term before, 32% of them seemed unsure about its definition. This was a common theme that we encountered amongst discussions with our family and friends.
Similarly, the panellists gave diverse answers when challenged to define the term. From discussing the evolution of the field of molecular biology to considering the interface between the organic and inorganic, the speakers all came back to the idea that this space has been built by combining previous research, scientific principles, and an overarching goal to invent promising new technologies. At one point, Matthew Kearnes even included the audience by asking them from what field of science or engineering they identify with, and using the range of responses from engineers, chemists, biologists and social scientists to illustrate the diversity and inclusivity of the field of synthetic biology.
However, the common thread throughout this part of the discussion was that synthetic biology focuses on applying engineering principles to biological systems to build reliable methods and tools. This is backed by the literature, (Agapakis, 2014; Gray et al, 2018) with the key philosophies behind most projects being rational design, modularity, abstraction and novelty; all paradigms that stem from engineering practices and commercialising processes.
School Visit
Relevance
Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology are two emerging fields of Australian research, both of which have the potential to make significant contributions to the health, environment and agriculture sectors (Biotechnology Australia, 1999, p. 12). In order to reflect this, the Education Department of the Australian state of New South Wales has recently rewritten the syllabus to include ‘Biotechnology’ and ‘Genetics’ modules in its an elective two-year biology course for high school juniors and seniors (American equivalent Grade 11 and Grade 12). Previously, these modules could be chosen as part of an intensive elective study, however they now must be completed by all students taking the course, which is one of the most popular in the state. As a result, resources relating to the ‘Biotechnology’ and ‘Genetics’ topics are limited.
Universities have been supporting the syllabus changes, running workshops and educational activities to provide support to educators. Our team similarly wanted to get involved with this and as such, have focused on assisting with the syllabus changes by running a high school excursion and creating an educational package. Not only has this allowed us to meaningfully help science educators, but it has given us the opportunity to inspire high school leavers with current biological trends – and thereby encourage the next generation of scientists and engineers.
Research
Previous studies conducted on short-duration science outreach programs highlight the benefit of engaging students to help them develop new views on science and scientists (Laursen 2006). Student interest naturally increases when such programs also present inherently interesting topics, many of which can be found in the fields of biotechnology and synthetic biology. However, teaching these cutting edge areas to Grade 11 and 12 students has been reported as challenging, as teachers have struggled to find appropriate practical work and students finding concepts challenging (Steele 2004).
Universities running workshops directed at these complex curriculum areas is one well-researched way to help teachers, and this need is particularly acute given the new syllabus. The novelty of different presenters running engaging and hands-on activities with authentic science materials and equipment can enable previously challenging science topics to seem new and appealing – and thus inspire further effort (Laursen 2006). Past iGEM teams have also shown an interest in innovation in this area, with other local Sydney teams, such as the Macquarie University and University of Sydney 2017 iGEM teams running practical investigations for younger students.
However, our team has decided to follow the lead of the University of Melbourne 2016 iGEM team, who focused on targeting students in the final years of high school. Given the local context of a changing high school syllabus in the New South Wales state this year, this proved a logical focus for our team. The session we chose to run was based on enzymes, which are integral to our project, but are also important more broadly within society. This allowed us to present on a topic of relevance to synthetic biology, aligning with the major focus of this workshop - to inspire student interest in the field of science as a whole (CRS (2006)). Not only was this topic in the new education modules, it also conformed with the theory by Simmoneaux (2000) that successful biotechnology education requires presenters to focus on the basic concepts of biology - of which enzyme properties is arguably one.
Having decided this, we were able to get in contact with the Year 11 Biology teacher at Roseville College, a Sydney girls’ school, whose students had chosen to do enzymes for their depth study. This teacher was also a former iGEM-er!
On the day
UNSW iGEM created and ran a ‘University Biology’ taster workshop for a group of students from a Sydney girls’ school (Roseville College). The day included presentations from the team, hands-on experiments and handouts, in order to engage the students in stimulating conversations about enzymes, synthetic biology, and university life more generally.
The excursion started with presentations from the team to teach the students about more advanced enzyme concepts, like inhibition, before diving into some hands-on practical work. This included teaching the students how to use air displacement micro-pipettes, a piece of equipment they could not access at their school. These skills were used as part of an investigation into the digestive function of lipase, which was then linked back to nutrition (and other school modules) that they had previously studied. The team ended the day with a discussion of genetic engineering, particularly with regards to the use of genetic switches, by providing the students with Pichia Pastoris plates to observe. These plates had genetically recombined lipase activity, and were able to illustrate to the students how methanol in the plate media could switch on lipase activity.
As the students left, they each received an envelope detailing a different one of our team’s favourite enzymes, with an image and short description. Their teacher had previously informed us that each student had to be very familiar with one enzyme for a depth study, and so we provided them with information on a range of enzymes that were likely novel for them.
Outcomes
The session was a generally positive experience, with the teacher giving us praise for our efforts and enthusiasm.
Julia Gale (Roseville Ladies College):
“Dear iGEM and Chris,
Thank you again for Thursday. The girls really enjoyed the day and absolutely loved receiving the ‘My Favourite Enzyme’ envelopes after the session. Thank you for attaching the PowerPoint and again for all your hard work in making sure the day was filled with valuable learning about enzymes.
Kind regards,
Julia”
The students were asked to do a survey after completing the excursion and they also had a positive response to the experience. The survey allowed students to make comments on the excursion, enabling us to gauge possible improvements to the session for the future – some of which are detailed below.
Table 1: Suggestions from the survey of students conducted after the excursion that could be used to improve the session.
| Finding | Improvement |
|---|---|
| Many students said that their favourite part was talking to the instructors and hearing about their research. | We could incorporate this into the presentation, with each student instructor having the opportunity to explain what they are studying, and why. |
| The students appeared unsure about the concept of synthetic biology, even after the presentation. | We could have a very clear “mission statement” for synthetic biology, which would lead into a group discussion about what the statement means. |
| The majority of students enjoyed using air displacement micro-pipettes. | We could introduce other university equipment and techniques that students are not exposed to at high school, such as handling microbial cultures. |
The survey also indicated that there is potential for development of other sessions that are specific to the other modules of the syllabus, particularly since the majority of students (when asked) expressed interest in ‘genetics’ and ‘medicine’. Expanding on either of these topics would allow for improved engagement with the concept of synthetic biology.
However, time and resource limitations meant that further lesson development was alternatively channelled into a creating a teaching package from the lessons that were given in the workshop. This is also targeted at upper high school students, particularly those learning the new Biology syllabus.