Team:CSU Fort Collins/Description

Human Practices

Building with Biology - Larimer County Farmer’s Market

This year we decided to approach human practices in a different manner. We decided that we wanted to get more involved with the public and see how we could use our project to address stigmas about synthetic biology. While attending the 2015 iGEM Jamboree, we learned about an interesting opportunity to apply for a Building with Biology kit. Developed by the Museum of Science, the Building with Biology kit is a part of the Building with Biology public engagement with science endeavor, where scientists and the public communicate about science and engage in mutual learning. Building with Biology is funded by a National Science Foundation grant.

We were fortunate to receive a Building with Biology kit and we brought this educational tool to the Larimer County farmer’s market. We engaged people of all ages and walks of life, and introduced them to synthetic biology concepts through hands on activities. These hands on activities provided an ideal method for demonstration that segued smoothly into explanations and discussion about the scientific principles behind the activities. The DNA extraction activity seemed to have the greatest impact on fairgoers. Watching people experience revelations about cells, their membrane structure, and how DNA fits into it all was an amazing experience for us all.

It’s important for scientific outreach to not only target those who already have an interest in science. How else will people find out if they have an interest in science? Our outreach will have been a success if even one of these events occurs because of our farmer’s market booth: someone discovers a lifelong love for science, someone develops an interest in scientific applications to their current work, someone develops an interest in scientific developments, someone has an interesting dinner conversation, or someone enters a career in science that leads to at least one person’s life being improved or saved.

Following the Larimer County farmer’s market, we used what we learned from our outreach to determine the aim and scope of our project. An activity called Tech Tokens invited participants to invest fake money in various synthetic biology industry ventures. These industries included biofuels, biomedicine, pest control, and the production of synthetic flavorings. An overwhelming majority of people chose to invest some of their fake money into biofuels, even people who were opposed to things like biomedicines and synthetic flavor production. This was a fascinating outcome, and we fully considered it while designing our project, which should improve biofuel production capacity.

Following the farmer’s market, we were also made very aware of the importance of being able to communicate our ideas well with others. We would all like to discuss our research with the public and other scientists, but this can prove to be a lofty endeavor. It is important to consider various ways to communicate an idea to people of varying backgrounds. There are many ways to get an idea across to someone, but the best way is found only through trial and error in the form of repeated attempts at communication. It’s good practice!

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