In recent years a format called “Science Pub” has become more and more popular in Germany (and also other countries). The idea was born from difficulties scientists face when trying to communicate their research with the general public. The “Science Pub” offers a solution that significantly improves this: instead of giving a dull lecture or displaying posters with lots of information that most people will ignore, a scientist can give rather informal and often more entertaining presentations in a pub or café in the city. This way it is possible to reach more people - and maybe even more important people that usually would not be reached - with an explanation of what scientist are actually doing.

In Tuebingen, the student group “JuForum e.V.” is organizing multiple science pubs presentations each semester.

We sought cooperation with them and were invited to present iGEM and our Team’s projects in science pub talk. This was not just a great opportunity for us - it was also a novelty for the science pub in Tuebingen since normally only professors or other established researchers and not students present their work.

In our presentation, we introduced our team and the iGEM competition to all attendants and went on explaining the ideas of synthetic biology. We also showed how genetic modification of organisms can be achieved, so that people know better what the often discussed GMOs are. After an overview of the project we did in 2015 and the ideas for our Fruitforce project, many people, went in for a final discussion. The most interesting topic was - as expected - GMOs and CRISPR/Cas9 systems of gene editing, which we had explained as part of the Fruitforce project, since these issues had been discussed very critically in German media. The attendants were glad about a very open discussion about rather complicated methods of gene editing, while clearing up some false rumors of designer babies or traceless DNA modifications.