Team:CityU HK/Practices
Purpose
Over the past few decades, synthetic biology has undoubtedly been progressing rapidly to become an essential part of our life.
Despite its increasing importance, many people have not had the chance to understand it thoroughly, resulting in misconceptions among the public. Unfamiliarity, fear and lack of knowledge, the society faces some major obstacles that may deter the advancement of synthetic biology.
Despite its increasing importance, many people have not had the chance to understand it thoroughly, resulting in misconceptions among the public. Unfamiliarity, fear and lack of knowledge, the society faces some major obstacles that may deter the advancement of synthetic biology.
CityU iGEM team is part of the rapidly growing iGEM and synthetic biology community. Thus, it is our responsibility to increase the awareness of people to this emerging field and its applications
Our aim for this outreach is to engage and educate our local community. We aim to spread the positive message of synthetic biology to the general public. Through our outreach program, we would like to rectify the public’s misconceptions about the harmfulness of genetically modifies organisms (GMOs) while giving them a positive image of synthetic biology.
In order to accomplish what we have set forth to do, we have seriously considered different approaches through which we can build the bridge between synthetic biology and the society.
Our aim for this outreach is to engage and educate our local community. We aim to spread the positive message of synthetic biology to the general public. Through our outreach program, we would like to rectify the public’s misconceptions about the harmfulness of genetically modifies organisms (GMOs) while giving them a positive image of synthetic biology.
In order to accomplish what we have set forth to do, we have seriously considered different approaches through which we can build the bridge between synthetic biology and the society.
What have we accomplished?
- Made synthetic biology approachable and apprehensible
- Held exhibition and visits to high schools
- Engaged the community in synthetic biology by playing games
School VisitsThis summer, CityU iGEM team had the opportunity to visit different high schools. Students were engaged in an interactive yet informative module designed by the team in an attempt to increase public awareness about synthetic biology.
SurveyCityU iGEM team is aware of the controversial nature of our project and concerns people may have with the use of Genetically-Modified Organisms (GMOs). Owing to this, the team has put together a survey to gather the viewpoints from the general public with regards to issues on bioethics and bio-safety etc.
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ExhibitionThis exhibition was aimed at introducing the public to synthetic biology and its applications. We had many inquisitive visitors to our exhibition. We believe we were able to bring attention to the importance of this rapidly developing area of science.
Social MediaThe Internet is an ideal platform to spread messages around due to its accessibility and convenience. On our page, we have published write-ups which include updates of our project, captivating articles related to synthetic biology, events that were held and our team member profiles.
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GameWe have designed an interactive game to engage the community in the world of synthetic biology.The goal of this game is to allow the general public to get a taste of constructing bacteria with desired functions.
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