Team:UofC Calgary/Engagement
Engagement
Throughout the summer, we partnered with several organizations to create opportunities for Calgarians to learn more about synthetic biology and genetic engineering. Our goals were to both raise awareness about synthetic biology and genetic engineering applications and technologies, and to better understand how the public views these practices. We organized several interactive activities designed to both educate and spark questions, and in the discussions that followed, we attempted to understand the current levels of knowledge about these fields and to start a meaningful dialogue about how new technologies can be made to be good for both science and society.
Let’s Talk Science
Seeing is believing! At our Let’s Talk Science Booth, high school students had the opportunity to extract DNA from strawberries while learning about its structure and how it is packaged inside cells. We guided the students through the extraction process, describing the purpose of each step, and invited them to consider the chemical and biological processes behind what they were doing.
For high school teachers who were present, we also discussed how experiments like DNA extractions can be brought into the classroom in order to teach student’s about genetics and DNA. We realized through talking to high school teachers that synthetic biology is rarely encouraged as part of science curriculums, but that many teachers and students show an interest. Based on this, we decided to try reach out to more students in order to spread the work about synthetic biology to the next generation of scientists.
Statistics for participants in this event are graphed below
Minds in Motion
Every summer at the University of Calgary, groups of elementary school aged students can be found in labs and classrooms learning about science, engineering, and technology. For four groups of students, synthetic biology also became part of the curriculum.
We created a 1 hour long lesson on DNA structure, function, and modification, and introduced the theme of synthetic biology to encourage students to think about the many possibilities that science and engineering create.
For the older groups of students, we designed a genetic engineering game with balloons as bacterial cells, and yarn as DNA. We had the students simulate growing bacteria by inserting yarn DNA into balloons and blowing them up, then extracting the DNA by popping the balloons. Students cut up their yarn genomes, and worked in teams to create genetic circuits with different colors of yarn representing different genes and circuit elements. They then reinserted their edited DNA into a new balloon and blew it up to grow their cells. We had them discuss in pairs what genes they had added, and what traits these genes would give their cells. The students then popped the balloons a second time, and we talked about how you would analyze a genome using gel electrophoresis and had them order their ‘gene fragments’ by size so they could understand how we would confirm DNA has been transformed into a cell.
For the younger group of students, we created a similar activity but with paper plates as the bacterial cells. Students were encouraged to think of genes they would insert into their cell through genetic engineering, and then use craft supplies to show us what their cell would look like.
Statistics for participants in this event are graphed below
Telus Spark Adults Only Night
Students aren’t the only ones that can get excited about science! At Telus Spark’s Adults only night, the theme of the event was ‘hacking’ the world around us using science and technology. Genome editing is the ultimate biological hack, and we introduced participants to the topics of genetic engineering and synthetic biology. We had participants help us perform a DNA extraction from strawberries, but this time using ingredients to make a DNA- strawberry cocktail you can drink. Again, we discussed the structure of DNA, and the biological processes behind each of the steps in our procedure. We received many questions about how this procedure would translate to a lab setting, and what extracted DNA can be used for, which gave us plenty of opportunities to discuss lab techniques and synthetic biology. Synthetic biology was a new topic to many participants, but sparked curiosity and interest.
We also organized a game of radioactive dodgeball as a fun way to introduce attendees to our project and show how ionizing radiation can damage DNA.
Statistics for participants in this event are graphed below
Beakernight
For our final event of the season, we worked with the University of Calgary’s Graduate Student’s Association to set up activities at Beakerhead and Beakernight: Calgary’s annual art, science and engineering festivals. We set up a booth for three days in downtown Calgary where Calgarians could ‘paint’ a petri dish with fluorescent bacteria. On the fourth day we displayed these painted petri dishes and invited participants to come view our display and look for their design. As people waited to look at the display, we talked to them about how the fluorescent bacteria had been made and how we protect the safety of lab workers and anyone who comes into contact with lab strains of bacteria.
Statistics for participants in this event are graphed below
Policy Brief
As we began to develop our project, we began to research how our device would be regulated should it ever make it to market. We hoped to gain insight into how medical products are approved in Canada, and incorporate Health Canada’s recommendations and design constraints into our design. As the design of our device changed, so to did the regulations that would apply to it, but what was consistent through all of our research was that there is a deficit in regulations for cell based therapeutics. As we researched Health Canada’s directives as well as international regulations, agreements, and treaties, we identified several regulatory gaps that concerned us. Namely, that not enough consideration is given to the unique characteristics of cell based therapeutics. Creation and testing of cell based therapeutics has been moving forward rapidly in recent years, and regulations and policies have failed to keep pace. Although current regulations are sufficient for the time being, we do not believe that in the future it will be feasible to continue to regulate these unique products with policies originally created for similar, but not identical, products.
We decided to write a policy brief outlining current regulatory policies that apply to cell based therapeutics, and identifying the areas where these regulations may fail to protect Canadians from adverse effects. As the field advances, it will become increasingly important to consider the special problems that cell based therapeutics create, so we hope to use this policy brief to encourage Health Canada to update current regulatory documents and reconsider their strategies for long term monitoring of the safety and environmental impact of cell based therapeutics.
We are working with several professionals from Health Canada and the University of Calgary in order to create a final draft of our policy brief that outlines our suggestions for adjustment of current regulations in Canada. We will continue to consult with experts to improve our current draft, and eventually submit for publishing and to Health Canada.
