Team:TP CC-SanDiego/Practices
OUTREACH
LA JOLLA LIBRARY LECTURE
As part of the La Jolla Riford Library’s San Diego Wet Lab initiative, our team discussed the implications of synthetic biology, particularly GMOs, in additions to its many applications and usefulness in the status quo. We presented an abridged version of our project, focusing primarily on its selling aspects, or the entrepreneurial aspects. Additionally, we advocated iGEM and discussed the competition, making sure to emphasize the uniqueness of such a competition and its impact on the future of the biotech industry. After our presentation, we spent about an hour answering questions from the audience and took some time to explore the Wet Lab opened by the Salk Institute.
CONGRESSMAN SCOTT PETERS MEETING
We met with Congressman Scott Peters’ senior field representative Sarah Czarnecki on August 26th. During the course of this meeting, we focused primarily on agriculture, particularly the impact of the California drought on agriculture in the Central Valley region and small farmers. Not only did Ms. Czarnecki inform us about the Farmer’s Bureau, a farmer’s organization based in San Diego, but she also discussed with us, at great length, bioethics and the use of our proposed project in the status quo. As a result of our discussion, we received valuable insight into the minds of those working in Washington D.C., as well as our neighbors, with regard to pesticides, fungicides, and herbicides. In fact, this insight into the public’s reaction to GMOs inspired our team to discuss and dispel rumors about this sensitive topic.
CURRICULUM
The purpose of our curriculum is to foster people’s interest in synthetic biology in our community. Prior to this year, our team was the only high school iGEM team in the entire city of San Diego. As a result, we created “How To Make An iGEM Team” videos in order to provide other high schools a resource to create their own teams. Through our videos, we have influenced the formation of iGEM teams at Canyon Crest Academy and San Dieguito Academy, both local high schools in San Diego. This year, we have compiled a general guidebook and a guide to basic lab protocols and procedures to assist new iGEM teams. Beyond our mission of increasing high school participation in iGEM in our area, we hope to increase elementary and middle school students’ exposure to synthetic biology. This can be done through demonstrations of basic lab protocols and procedures, as well as lectures on basic synthetic biology knowledge. In particular, interactive, hands-on experiences can generate great interest in young minds. By presenting these opportunities, we can help cultivate their interest in biology at a young age.
Guidebooks:
General Guidebook
Lab Protocols
Lab Protocols and Procedures:
Transcription/Translation
PCR
Plasmid Digestion
Transformations
Inverse PCR
Primer Design
Promoter Regions
SAN DIEGO UNION TRIBUNE
We were contacted and interviewed by a reporter of the San Diego Union Tribune, Mr. Pat Maio, due to our First Runner Up award at last year’s High School Jamboree. He asked us about our project and how we plan on using it to better San Diego county, California, the United States, and the world as a whole.
ZENGER MAGAZINE
We published an article in a joint Torrey Pines High School and The Bishop’s School Zenger Political Magazine regarding synthetic and molecular biology. The main focus of this article was again GMOs. We also discussed how our project, given its use of a natural mechanism, chitinase, is a better and more efficient way of combating fungal diseases and protecting against insects.