MENU ▤

Human Practices - SILVER

Education and Public Engagement

We have adopted two-way science communication that is accessible to all, innovative and interactive, and takes advantage of technologies to communicate aspects of our project, and related issues.

No audience too big or too small

Of the general public, we engaged with families, over 200 Year 8 students (12-13 year olds), over 150 sixth formers (16-17 year olds), and dozens of adults at a pub. We communicated various facets of our project, from light reactions, fireflies and glowworm conservation to potential use of luciferase and synbio in space to wider issues surrounding self-testing kits.

Inter-team outreach- from Coventry to Paris to Xiamen to Toronto

We immersed ourselves in engaging with other iGEM teams, nationally and internationally. A few team members attended the European and UK meet ups in Westminster and Paris respectively. We participated in XMU China's online magazine feature on iGEM teams. Chris represented us on the Toronto synbio panel while Asal ran a stall alongside Sheffield and Warwick.

Life on Mars? Hands on workshop with 3D printed models

For a kinaesthetic workshop for Year 8 students on synthethic biology's potential for life on Mars, Rob and Dan designed 3D printed models that light up when a student adds a reporter gene 'plug'. This workshop successfully engaged over two hundred 12-13 year old students at the STEM Live event in the Sherman Theatre.

Luciferase- from medical devices to conserving British glowworms

We performed enzymatic luciferase demonstrations for sixth formers and families when discussing Cas-Find, and Asal encouraged young children to build log piles to help conservation of the luciferase producing glowworm at the National Museum in Cardiff.

Synbio, STI self testing, and a pint

An interactive talk at the Cardiff Science Cafe on synthetic biology, iGEM, and our project proved a popular night of pop culture references, prizes, and discussions. Asal and Rob enjoyed surveying attendants, and having discussions, on STI self testing kits before revealing our investigation results.