Team:UCLA/HP/Silver

• Projects

  Protein Cages Super Soldier Systems Interlab Study

• Parts

  Basic Parts Composite Parts Part Collection

• Outreach

  Human Practices Collaborations

• Judging

  Medal Requirements Safety

• Team

  Meet the Team Attributions

Human Practices

The UCLA iGEM Team is an advocate for the universal advancement and acceptance of synthetic biology, and we believe that progress through the field can only be achieved by informing and teaching the youth of our society. As such, our Human Practices project centers around education of Los Angeles youth to show them the potential of synthetic biology, and furthermore think of the implications and ethics behind scientific progress and research.

This year, we worked with Nava College Prep Academy, a school community founded and run school in East Los Angeles to inspire high school students and help them explore the world of synthetic biology. Our project consisted of a two day workshop, the first of which took place at UCLA and the latter in East Los Angeles.

The first workshop was centered around providing an introduction to synthetic biology, as the high school students were about to embark on a month long synthetic biology unit in their science class. We shared our previous work with our 2015 iGEM project-the customization and functionalization of synthetic silk fibers, as well as the foundation the 2016 project. Following a short presentation about the Central Dogma of Biology, genetic circuitry, and gene expression, we then asked the students to apply what the learned to manipulate genetic circuits and create bi-stable switches using parts we provided for them. Many of the students were very eager and engaged with the activity, almost viewing it like a puzzle-in a very similar way that we as researchers approach our own projects! We concluded the workshop with a tour of our lab space and a Q&A panel, giving the students a chance to ask any questions they had about research or synthetic biology.

A large part of our project this year was to further education, not just for ourselves but expanded to other students as well. We thus reached out to Nava Prep High School and had two field trip days with them. The high school students we worked with are part of a program dedicated to a teaching a breadth of knowledge in modern technologies. They talk about topic outside the scope of most typical high school classes, like programming, artificial intelligence, business management, and modern medical advancements. In the second of these visits, we went to their high school to facilitate a Socratic seminar-like activity on synthetic biology and bioethics. After having visited our lab and learning the basics of synthetic biology, it seemed fitting that bioethics enter the discussion, which was our focus for the day.