We organized a Science Café event in the heart of Berlin (Betahouse – Coworking space in
Kreuzberg) on August 7 2015 and, hereby, provided an interface between science, research
and art. Four presentations about different fields, including our Enzymatic Flagellulose, made
this event a very special one. We showed and discussed our projects with a language easy for a
non-scientific audience to comprehend. We focused on addressing the issue of microplastics
and the alarming threat that they represent to human health. Additionally, we talked about
how genetic engineering help us be more efficient and generate either enzymes, proteins or
products that are usually difficult to access and produce. We made a clear emphasis on the
importance of good scientific practices when it comes to handling genetically modified
organisms. Although the audience have heard about them before, some points needed to be
clarified for the public to understand that in our proceedings there is no threat to either
biodiversity, environment or human health.
Moreover, we talked about how important it is to remain “inter- or transdisciplinary” in
science. By presenting the different members of our team and their diverse academic
backgrounds we stressed the fact that solution can only be achieved through collaboration
from different fields.
The audience was very happy to obtain first hand information from researchers working on
topics that concern the society and the government. The main feedback from the audience
focused on how good it is to make science accessible to the public and how important it is to
explain complex methods in a visual way.
Our participation definitely clarified some points and misunderstandings. The public was invited
to visit the lab anytime and also to help us in anyway from web designing to fund raising.
The "Lange Nacht der Wissenschaften (LNdW)" stands for the Long Night of the Sciences in
English and has been taking place for 15 years in Berlin and Potsdam. It is also called the
smartest night of the year due to its scientific and breakthrough character taking place yearly. A
diverse program, comprising hundreds of exhibitiors, offers thousands of visitors the
opportunity get exciting insights into the scenery of sciences, and research. Visitors are invited
to participate in fascinating experiments, as well as to exchange the latest research findings in
various fields. The LNdW not only enables exchange of information and knowledge between
experts, but also between experts and people without any prior knowledge. The range of the
topics, thereby, is as broad and varied as our world: Be it ancient studies or modern
technologies, languages, natural sciences, music, or medicine and health, everyone will find
something that takes their fancy.
We took part in the LNdW this year and presented our project Enzymatic Flagellulose , its aims
and findings, to the audience visiting the chemistry faculty in the campus of the Technical
University Berlin. Visitors, from all ages, including complete families and friends had the
opportunity to see our lab and perform easy experiments while guided by our students. We
presented a very clear workflow highlighting the problem and our steps to solve it. Our
participation in the LNdW allowed us to draw attention to both the iGEM competition in
general and to the problematic issue about microplastics. We could entrust many people to be
more conscious about microplastics and take better care of its consumption and disposal, and
in turn, reduce the contamination of our environment. At the same time we established contact
for subject-specific questions and we thrilled many high school and university students to
participate in the iGEM competition next year. Furthermore, we received positive feedback
from our visitors and they encouraged us in our aims and optimization of our idea. It was very
important for us to take the non-scientific audience to the lab so the general public gets the
feeling that scientists have a transparent and open mind, willing to communicate and share.
This event pretty much relates and adds value to the “Science Café”, where we took the lab and
the scientists to the people. We are already looking forward to LNdW 2016!
Berliner Wasserbetriebe:
Berliner Wasserbetriebe:
We visited the “Berliner Wasserbetriebe” (wastewater treatment plant of the city of Berlin), in
Ruhleben, at the beginning of our project. We wanted to see, learn and experience with our
own eyes the processes that wastewater goes through once it reaches the treatment plant. For
us this was a key step in our project because it provided insights about the possibility of
including our research and solutions in already established facilities. We were extensively
informed about the history, and the construction of this wastewater treatment plant. We were
allowed to see every purification step and were enlightened about the technical structures.
Also, we discussed about necessary changes for the future and about a changeover of the plant.
Moreover, we acquired an overview about current problems and basic approaches for the
optimization of the plant. We consulted with employees of the plant and talked about current
research works about microplastics and others, including drug residues present in water.
Another subject we brainstormed about was the form, the size, and the place of action of our
project called Enzymatic Flagellulose, that aims to eliminate microplastics through degradation.
It was a nice experience to see how the plant actually works and to see how complexly the
whole plant is constructed. They kindly offered to test our prototypes in the future and to
provide additional guidance about the possible logistics to implement a microplastics
degradation unit in the system. Additionally, they offered us to link us to other research groups
in the wastewater treatment field and some possible contacts for funding. We thank the
“Berliner Wasserbetriebe” for the time they offered us and are very grateful for their help in
our project. Here are some impressions of this awesome day at BWB:
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