On another portion of our stand, teammates let individuals extract DNA from strawberries and bananas based on the procedure shown in the Bay Area Maker Faire banner above. Children and adults alike were fascinated at the ease with which large amounts of DNA could be accumulated and visualized. Our team answered many questions such as “Why bananas?” or “Why strawberries?”, to which we responded by detailing the octoploid nature of strawberries and the triploid nature of bananas. Some young attendees mixed their finished banana and strawberry DNA products, exclaiming, “Look, I made a bananaberry!”

To more knowledgable, older attendees and Maker Faire Editors, our team members detailed the intricacies of our project, highlighting the sustainability of creating a biodegradable balloon membrane. After many iterations of our interactive demonstrations, our team had created decent amounts of waste, which we sorted into recyclables, compost, and trash. Midway through the second day of the Faire, our team was awarded an Editor’s Choice first prize blue ribbon in sustainability! At World Maker Faire this year, Stanford-Brown iGEM disseminated a positive atmosphere around the work of all iGEM teams and synthetic biologists in general!