EXECUTIVE SUMMARY & OUR FOCUS

Korea may be famous for internet startups and K-Pops, but not for synthetic biology. Synthetic biology has a huge potential for improving the welfare of humanity, but being such a young discipline, at the same time has many issues yet to be resolved, including ethical, legal concerns and safety issues. In US or EU, thus, it is not uncommon to see close cooperation between the government and private enterprises to create an ideal research environment and efficient legal and regulatory framework.

No such environment exists in Korea, at least up to the level of efficiency found in US or EU. We have concluded that the policy makers and important players (such as colleges and research institutes) must be better informed of the new field so as to provide an environment that is favorable for the advancement of synthetic biology while safe enough to prevent hazardous events. We have also identified that it is necessary to promote fundamental concepts of synthetic biology to younger generations, including high school students and younger.

Keeping these social environment of Korea in mind, Elan Vital Korea has established 5 goals for our human practice activities:

1. - first, enhancing public awareness of the synthetic biology;
2. - second, promoting the importance of the field to policy makers, research institutes and journalists;
3. - third, promoting the public awareness of the importance of the early detection of contagious pathogens;
4. - fourth, putting safety first for our projects;
5. - and finally, close cooperation and co-work with other iGEMers in Korea.

First, we continuously and strenuously strived to enhance the public awareness of the synthetic biology, especially among younger generations. We have participated in Korea Youth Expo and operated a booth (from May 22 to May 24), and worked hard to communicate with participants in 2015 Science Festival (from July 27 to August 2). We offered basic education sessions on DNA and synthetic biology, and conducted surveys to better understand the level of general awareness of the synthetic biology and iGEM. Based on the information and data we gathered from them, we have developed the long-term education plan for primary and secondary school students. We have reached the National Science Teachers’ Association of Korea, with more than 2,400 science teachers as its members, and established a communication and cooperation network. We have provided some materials for use for education including blogs, Youtube videos, lecture videos, booklets, brochures and simple DNA extraction kits, etc.

Second, we have learned that policy makers and education and research bodies in Korea are not sufficiently informed of the recent developments of the synthetic biology, which resulted in lack of proper safety guidelines and articulation of legal, ethical and environmental implication-related discussions and awareness. In an effort to change the condition, we have drafted the report of our findings and suggestions, and sent our concerns and recommendations to politicians (including members of the National Assembly of Korea) in charge of science and technology-related policymaking. In the process of researching the current policy environments and developing recommendations, we have contacted universities, research institutions and small- and medium-size enterprises in order to better understand their concerns. We have also contacted journalists, who function as major contact point to the general public. We have distributed summaries of the synthetic biology and iGEM. In the process, we have persuaded some of them to be our sponsors.

Third, we have developed the public awareness strategy for our project, “Early Detection of Antibiotic Resistant Bacteria Using Quorum Sensing”. Incidentally, Korea has been hit hard by MERS virus as late as June this year, which greatly heightened the public awareness – and fear – of the contagious pathogens, as well as the need to learn more of the cause and cure for those dreadful diseases. We began our public awareness campaign by researching and studying the current methods of detecting and tackling the antibiotic-resistant bacteria from Korean CDC, hospital guidelines and related research papers. We have discovered that, compared to the strict and detailed action plan in place by the US CDC, the Korean CDC has not – yet – established networks of hospitals and nursing homes that need to be closely monitored and promptly intervened as need arises. Based on this finding, we have drafted letters and papers and sent them to Korean CDC and safety committees of hospitals. We plan to continue our efforts on this area.

Fourth, we have put the strongest emphasis on the safe implementation of our project. Our project belongs to Risk Group 1, but we have observed the lab safety rules and guidelines very tightly, and promoted the importance of observing the lab safety based on deeper understanding of the biosafety guidelines. We have developed the Youtube video explaining the biosafety levels, and encouraged people in lab environment to watch it. Finally, in an effort to promote the spirit of cooperation, sharing and mutual contribution of iGEM, we have reached out to other teams joining the iGEM Jamboree, and hosted regional meet-up. Even before and after the regional meet-up, we held discussions and mentorship with Korea University team on lab works and iGEM experiences. We also met with HAFS team and provided assistance on parts submission and using BioBricks and other materials included in the Kit. We have shared with them our failure and misunderstanding we had experienced last year which, we hope, would be entertaining if not informative.

Education & Public Awareness: Korea Youth Expo

Elan Vital Korea’s education and public awareness-related human practice efforts – that is, our human practice efforts that are not directly related to our project at hand: using quorum sensing technology for early, efficient detection of MRSA or other antibiotics-resistant bacteria – focus primarily on our outreach at the Korea Youth Expo this May.

Threats of Antibiotics-Resistant Bacteria

For this purpose, Elan Vital Korea has set up a synthetic biology research club jointly with YMCA, which participated in the Korea Youth Expo as a program provider. The selection criteria for the provider was very high, and competition fierce. Ultimately, however, the hard work and preparation has been amply rewarded when the club was selected as one of 100 teams from more than 2,500 schools and community organizations. Korea Youth Expo is as the largest, most significant annual event for the young generation since its inception in 2001. The annual event is organized by the Ministry of Gender Equality and Family of Korea, and run by Korea Youth Work Agency. This year, Korea Youth Expo was held in Gumi, Korea from 21st to 23rd, May. For the three days, about 159,600 people visited the event. We did our best to fully exploit the opportunity and promote the ideas of synthetic biology, bio-safety and bio-ethics. Our activities at the Expo are: (1) preparation meetings, (2) on-booth experiment sessions and DNA-related activities, (3) information seminar on synthetic biology, (4) on-booth discussions and talks on synthetic biology, and (5) survey.

1. Preparation Meetings

We held more than a dozen preparation meetings.

2. On-booth Experiment Sessions and DNA-Related Activities
Sensing for Early Detection

For 3 days, we taught more than 500 visitors about conducting DNA extraction experiments and assembling DNA models. (1) Broccoli DNA Extraction Experiment We have explained the DNA structure while students were onducting the experiments. Following pictures had been used to make visitors understand better.

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  1. Grind broccoli using the blender
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  2. For 25g of broccoli, put 2g of salt and 7g of surfactant (liquid detergent) into 150ml of distilled water, then stir until it is completed melted, and wait for 5-10 minutes. The detergent captures the proteins and liquids of the cell membranes.
  3. Pour the grinded broccoli through a strainer into another container.
  4. Pour the mixture into test tubes (or small glass containers).
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  5. Tilt the test tube and slowly pour rubbing alcohol (70-95% isopropyl or ethyl alcohol) into the tube down the side so that it forms a layer of the broccoli mixture.
  6. DNA will rise into the alcohol layer from the broccoli layer. Use a glass stirring rod (or wooden stick) to draw the DNA into the alcohol

3. Information Seminar on Synthetic Biology

Elan Vital Korea has organized an information seminar on synthetic biology during the Korea Youth Expo. For the seminar, we have invited Mr. Damon Tighe as our lecturer, who conducted the lecture in the English language, which was simultaneously translated into the Korean language. We have invited college students and professors as well as high school students visiting the expo. We also held an introduction session on iGEM. The entire session was video recorded, and offered to various institutions.

4. On-Booth Discussions and Talks on Synthetic Biology

We explained to the visitors of our booth what is the synthetic biology, and what benefits and risks are inherent in the new field full of great potential and possibility. We began our discussions with visitors of our booth by asking them to express their opinions on the synthetic biology. This way, we were able to customize the level of information we share based on their answers and feedbacks. In the process of the discussions, we showed them various displays, including various pictures, videos, information brochures and the glow fish on display in our booth to explain the synthetic biology.

5. Survey

We have conducted surveys by designing questionnaires, distributing them to the visitors to our booth, then gathering their responses. The questionnaire is designed to solicit information on the level of public awareness of the topics and issues related to the synthetic biology. The survey results, which are summarized below, will give us better understanding of the public awareness of the synthetic biology and tools to better plan our promotional, human practice activities in the future.

6. Follow-up Activities at the Korea Science Festival

Antibiotic Resistance Threat in the United States 2013, US Department of Health and Human Services, Center for Disease Control and Prevention About Quorum Sensing Annual Review of Microbiology, Volume 55:pp 165-199 (volume publication date, October 2001) Melissa B.Miller and Bonnie L. Bassler Department of Molecular Biology, Princeton University, Princeton, New Jersey
Bacterial Quorum Sensing: Its Role in Virulence and Possibilities for Its Control Steven T. Rutherfold and Bonnie L.Bassler. Cold Spring Harb Perspect Med. 2012.2, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press

Quorum Sensing: Bacteria Talk Sense Costi D. Sifri, Oxford Journals, Volume 47, Issue 8 Pp 1070-1076, 2015 Infectious Diseases Society of America

Bacterial Quorum Sensing in Pathogenic Relationships Teresa R. de Kievit, Barbara H.Iglewski, Infection and Immunity, Volume 68, September 2000, 2000 American Society for Microbiology