Difference between revisions of "Team:Michigan/Integrated Practices"
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| − | <p><font face ="Poiret One"> | + | <p><font face ="Poiret One">We were invited to participate in the Building with Biology event at the Michigan Science Center in Detroit, Michigan. This event took place on August 6th, 2016 and is part of a larger national initiative across museums in the country through the National Science Foundation, the NISE Network and the Science Museum of Boston. Its purpose is to provide a space of conversation about synthetic biology between scientists and the general public, ranging from kids to adults, in order to eliminate the “pipeline of doom” kind of polarized thought regarding this topic. Examples of the activities done included a simple DNA isolation, a virus making activity, an activity where people considered the uses of synthetic biology regarding food. As well as an activity where people considered in what kind of research they would invest in, among many others. The interactive activities that people participate in during the event, are designed to educate on the technologies of synthetic biology. Afterwards, a few members of our team gave a presentation on iGem, our project, and a successful example of the everyday use of synthetic biology in many people's’ lives: the synthesis of human insulin. We were happy to participate in such an edifying event and were able to answer many people’s questions and concerns while having fun. |
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<h2>Ann Arbor Health Hacks</h2> | <h2>Ann Arbor Health Hacks</h2> | ||
| − | <p><font face="Poiret One"> We | + | <p><font face="Poiret One">We competed (and won a $500 award) in a health hackathon organized by Ann Arbor Health Hacks from June 14-16, 2016. Hackathons like these bring people with diverse backgrounds together to solve problems that they propose. We took our basic Aptapaper idea and through talking with the other hackathon participants worked to envision a version that could help diagnose heart disease. The hackathon was actually where we came up with the idea to use proximity dependent ligation instead of a toehold switch for our design. As part of the hackathon, we interacted with the other 200 or so participants from all different health related fields, teaching them about synthetic biology as they taught us about aspects of their particular field that were relevant to our project. |
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Revision as of 20:21, 2 October 2016
Public Engagement
Synthetic biology has a long way to being completely accepted by the public, mainly due to lack of education about the subject. The Michigan Synthetic Biology Team held a few workshops in order to excite and incite younger generations to pursue synthetic biology!
Detroit
We were invited to participate in the Building with Biology event at the Michigan Science Center in Detroit, Michigan. This event took place on August 6th, 2016 and is part of a larger national initiative across museums in the country through the National Science Foundation, the NISE Network and the Science Museum of Boston. Its purpose is to provide a space of conversation about synthetic biology between scientists and the general public, ranging from kids to adults, in order to eliminate the “pipeline of doom” kind of polarized thought regarding this topic. Examples of the activities done included a simple DNA isolation, a virus making activity, an activity where people considered the uses of synthetic biology regarding food. As well as an activity where people considered in what kind of research they would invest in, among many others. The interactive activities that people participate in during the event, are designed to educate on the technologies of synthetic biology. Afterwards, a few members of our team gave a presentation on iGem, our project, and a successful example of the everyday use of synthetic biology in many people's’ lives: the synthesis of human insulin. We were happy to participate in such an edifying event and were able to answer many people’s questions and concerns while having fun.
Ann Arbor Health Hacks
We competed (and won a $500 award) in a health hackathon organized by Ann Arbor Health Hacks from June 14-16, 2016. Hackathons like these bring people with diverse backgrounds together to solve problems that they propose. We took our basic Aptapaper idea and through talking with the other hackathon participants worked to envision a version that could help diagnose heart disease. The hackathon was actually where we came up with the idea to use proximity dependent ligation instead of a toehold switch for our design. As part of the hackathon, we interacted with the other 200 or so participants from all different health related fields, teaching them about synthetic biology as they taught us about aspects of their particular field that were relevant to our project.
Girls in Science and Engineering (GISE)
In mid-June, the team helped out with the University of Michigan's GISE summer camp. We held two sessions where we showed middle-school girls how to extract DNA from strawberries and their own spit--an integral technique in synthetic biology! Aside from the activities, we explained the basics of genetics and synthetic biology. Despite the numerous spills and messes, the girls were intrigued with how the spidery liquid (full of their own DNA) contained in the microcentrifuge tube held all the instructions for their bodies! Hopefully, they'll be the next generation of Michigan Synthetic Biologists!
