Awareness

In our opinion it is very important that synthetic biology gets attention in the public. People should talk about synthetic biology and learn how useful it can be. To reach as many people as possible and explain them the benefits of synthetic biology we published an article about our education project in a regional newspaper. This article is not only about the human practices education project, but also about what synthetic biology is and how it can be used to help people. We hope to decrease prejudices people might have against synthetic biology, and to enhance acceptance. A second article was published in the ETH-student magazine, which reaches thousands of students of various disciplines. That way we hope to show them what iGEM is about and to motivate them for a possible future participation.

Summary

To get the publics attention we did the following:

• We published an article about our human practices school project in the newspaper. This article also explains what synthetic biology is and why it can be so useful.
• Together with the team of EPF Lausanne wie did a survey in the streets of basel and asked people to tell us their opinion about synthetic biology.
• We published an article (link) in the ETH student magazine polykum which reaches a lot of students of various disciplines.

Engaging the public with EPFL

Survey Summary

1) Have you ever heard of the term "Synthetic Biology"?

2) According to the given definition and examples, what do you think is the public attitude towards this scientific discipline?

3) Do you think there is sufficient interaction between Scientists and the general public in Switzerland?

4) Does this interaction go both ways?

5) Who has the ethical responsibility with respect to scientific experiments

6) would you support the following applications of synthetic biology?

Algae that produce biofuel

Bacteria that produce electricity

Bacteria that detect lactose

Cereal plants that adapt efficiently to climate conditions

Bacteria capable of detecting and degrading pollutants in lakes and rivers

Bacteria that attract and kill parasites of bees

Modified human cells that detect and kill cancer cells

Use of modified bacteria for medical diagnosis (ETHZ project)

Modifying human embryonic cells to fight genetic diseases

Bacteria that produce plastic materials

Minesweeper game using modified bacteria

Art exhibition featuring multicolored bacteria

7) Of which type are your preoccupations with respect to our project and its applications?

8) What is worse: A false medical positive (erroneously diagnosing cancer in a healthy individual) or a false medical negative (failing to detect cancer in a diseased individual upon testing)

9) What is your general opinion of genetically modified organisms (GMOs)?

Newspaper Articles

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