Team:BGU Israel/Outreach
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Changes, especially great ones, are complex. Technological solution is the beginning. Public support is essential. But for a change to happen, one must reach decision makers and stakeholders. We divided our efforts into two tangential paths – professional and political. Both are the key component in any decision making process.</br></br> | Changes, especially great ones, are complex. Technological solution is the beginning. Public support is essential. But for a change to happen, one must reach decision makers and stakeholders. We divided our efforts into two tangential paths – professional and political. Both are the key component in any decision making process.</br></br> | ||
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<h6>Professional decision makers</h6> | <h6>Professional decision makers</h6> | ||
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We addressed all relevant governmental offices which regulate the use of synthetic biology products – health ministry, environmental protection ministry and the agriculture ministry.</br></br> | We addressed all relevant governmental offices which regulate the use of synthetic biology products – health ministry, environmental protection ministry and the agriculture ministry.</br></br> | ||
Consultations with Dr. Orna Matzner, head of the Science Unit in the <b>Ministry of Environmental Protection's Chief Scientist's Office</b> were essential to our project. "The problem", explained Dr. Matzner, "is that regulation often trails behind technology. What we need is responsible development of technology that will take into account the environmental and health implications of that technology."</br></br> | Consultations with Dr. Orna Matzner, head of the Science Unit in the <b>Ministry of Environmental Protection's Chief Scientist's Office</b> were essential to our project. "The problem", explained Dr. Matzner, "is that regulation often trails behind technology. What we need is responsible development of technology that will take into account the environmental and health implications of that technology."</br></br> |
Revision as of 02:55, 29 October 2013
Outreach Introduction
We embarked on a massive outreach campaign to encourage discourse with the public about synthetic biology, in order to dispel misconceptions and foster debate. Our outreach campaign was aimed at reaching as many people from different communities and age groups as possible. We wanted to burst out of the invisible walls separating the academy from the general public and trigger discussions in a variety of platforms, making the subject accessible to all.
SynBio for Kids
It’s a cliché, but children really are the future (and so is synthetic biology!). We believe that exposing children to science is crucial for creating the next generation of researchers and their supporters. Therefore, we wanted to make sure that our outreach campaign reached not only adults but children and teenagers as well, to get them thinking at an early age about synthetic biology and the challenges and possibilities it offers. Synthetic biology is a natural match for kids’ unlimited curiosity and creativity: it’s like playing Lego with life!
Science Night
Team BGU_Israel participated in the annual Science Night, a science festival for children that took place in several cities around the country, particularly in our university. The festival included numerous lectures, movie screenings, tours in university facilities, exhibitions, and activities, oriented especially for kids, families, and anyone interested in a peek into the world of science. Our team set up a few stands with a number of activities for children to learn about synthetic and micro biology: growing bacteria from your finger on petri dishes before and after using hand sanitizer (showing the importance of washing your hands as well!), and writing your name in DNA by translating English letters into codons and making the sequence into colorful decorations of DNA strands for the upcoming holiday season. For the parents and older children, we presented the iGEM foundation and our project, and distributed our public opinion survey about synthetic biology.
Activity Kit
Since Science Night was such a big success, we decided to make our activities and materials available for anyone to easily use. And so, we present the "SynBio Activity Kit for Kids", including detailed explanation about the activities plus all materials needed. We hope many future teams will use these activities and add their own!
Media
We took a two-pronged approach to our media campaign in order to make synthetic biology accessible to as many people as possible through a wide variety of channels.
New Media: The Bottom-Up Approach
For many people, new media, including websites, blogs, and social networks, has become a major source of information about the world. Its unique advantage over forms of traditional media is that it enables a direct dialog between the public and the source, in which people can express their positions freely. It can also make information accessible to a wider range of people, who are not involved in the field or who don’t read traditional news sources. For researchers, new media is an important tool to enable a complex issue, such as synthetic biology, to become accessible for the general public. During the past months, we addressed the public through a wide range of channels, including:
- A number of blogs: end of the world, a view from the bleachers, and Up to a Constant.
- Podcasts
- We opened a Youtube channel featuring a whiteboard animation explaining our project and a number of other videos of our group at various events.
- Our official Facebook page received more than 3,000 likes and has reached over 200,000 people from over 20 different countries.
The page has allowed us to directly interact with people and answer their concerns and questions, and we have received hundreds of messages and comments on Facebook.
Our personal favorite was a message from a fourteen year old girl:
”Science has been my biggest dream since I was a child. You have inspired me to believe I can fulfill this dream one day.” She heard about the project through a popular Facebook page called ”Tweeting Statuses”, which posted a goofy picture of the team with a caption explaining our project, and got around 3,400 likes and over 600 shares the day it was posted. - We also launched a crowd-funding campaign, which we introduced our project and synthetic biology while in the same time asking for help from the public to raise the last of the needed funds to participate in the competition. The campaign was a huge success, beyond our wildest expactations. We raised close to $15,000 which is 171% of our initial goal!.
Conventional Media: The Top-Down Approach
Despite the recent rise of new media, conventional media still has enormous influence in education and creating a public debate. In general, stories in newspapers, TV programs, and news websites have a longer, more informative format, and we took advantage of all three for our human practice campaign. Moreover, traditional media reaches segments of the population who are not necessarily active on Facebook or other new media sources.
- A feature story about our project and the iGEM competition was broadcasted on Israel’s national television, and we also appeared on a morning show on Channel 2, Israel’s most viewed channel.
- We were also interviewed on Israel’s national radio and in the South’s regional radio.
- One of Israel’s biggest economic news sources, the Calcalist, published a printed as well as digital article about the project and the iGEM competition.
- We also appeared in Israel’s biggest science news website – Hayadaan and in the synthetic biology website GetSynBio.
- The project was covered in a two-page spread in Yediot Ahronot, Israel’s most popular printed newspaper, and a version of the article appeared in the homepage of its online counterpart, the most popular news website in Israel, Ynet News.
Implementations
The President of Israel’s Endorsements
Decision & Policy makers
Changes, especially great ones, are complex. Technological solution is the beginning. Public support is essential. But for a change to happen, one must reach decision makers and stakeholders. We divided our efforts into two tangential paths – professional and political. Both are the key component in any decision making process.
Professional decision makers
We addressed all relevant governmental offices which regulate the use of synthetic biology products – health ministry, environmental protection ministry and the agriculture ministry. Consultations with Dr. Orna Matzner, head of the Science Unit in the Ministry of Environmental Protection's Chief Scientist's Office were essential to our project. "The problem", explained Dr. Matzner, "is that regulation often trails behind technology. What we need is responsible development of technology that will take into account the environmental and health implications of that technology." We were pleased to demonstrate to Dr. Matzner that our tool, in fact, ensures that biosafety is not compromised through the use of synthetic biology. It allows the use of biosynthetic technology while protecting biodiversity. This is especially imperative in Israel due to the high population density in the country and the close proximity of residential areas to industry, agriculture, and open spaces. Ministry of health chief scientist is a leading professional authority. He is responsible for the authorization of pharmaceuticals and food, both of them are fields which synthetic biology attend to take a great role in the coming years. "we are always trying to find balance between research needs and the public health" says Dr. Michal simovich. This bureau support is mandatory if we want to gain the public’s trust in our mechanism and in its reliability. According to "regulation of biological diseases generators" law, if the institutional committee saw that the damage exceeds the expected research fear of harming state security or public safety , health or security, it will instruct the researcher to continue editing the study regarding to that request of the committee . Additional laws were brought up in the meeting regarding novel food harsh registration. It is important to note that the high committee of clinical trials in humans, or the Helsinki committee, is also under the responsibility of the chief scientist. During the meeting, the leading scientist noted that many more tests and examinations should be done - before using iGEM-BGU’s technology as a standard in any synthetic biology product inserted to the human body. However, it was also been noted that once found reliable, our technology brings synthetic biology one step closer to fulfil its promising medical revolution. We have also met the chief scientist in the Ministry of Agriculture & Rural Development, Dr. Avi Perl. He opened the session saying "Agriculture harms the environment - no matter what you do. the transgenic agriculture do not harm the environment more then natural agriculture" He kept on explaining us the complex process of approving a development, "The committee deals with genetically engineered plants in Israel named “Vartzam”, In order to get permission for agriculture uses you must prove that the chance to pass on traits non-deliberately is negligible, so as presenting a proof that those GMO’s are vanishing from the environment after reasonable time, leaving the environment intact". His office is the main authority in implementing new technologies in agriculture field. Since Israel is a world-leader in agriculture technologies, we aimed to start the implementation of our technology from this field. After we demonstrated the chief scientist that a reliable safety mechanism is very well at reach he emphasized that "If our vision is to release GEMs to the nature then the terminator is an integral part of it!", Yet first we should use the self destruct mechanism in a contained environment like bioreactor." This way our bio-safety mechanism can very well begin its implementation in upcoming years and live experiments can be held. Other important aspect of decision making is the economic one. There are plenty of wonderful groundbreaking ideas out there. Unfortunately, many of them are too expensive to implement. Our technology is not only simple, but is also cheap to install in any synthetic biology product you have. Its approximated cost is one hundred dollars for P.A.S.E 1 and two hundred dollars for P.A.S.E 2, what constitute only a small fraction of the expenses required in development and production of synthetic biology deliverables.
We believe that our mission of promoting synthetic biology is a matter of national interest. Therefore we strived to meet with the President of Israel, Shimon Peres, in order to seek his endorsement and support for our project and for our ultimate goal. We met with his advisors and presented them our project requesting to set up a meeting. A week later we received a personal letter written by the President and a date was set to meet with him in person when we return from the Regional Jamboree.
From the Presidents’s letter: ” I have no doubt that your impactful groundbreaking project will reflect your exciting scientific creativity and initiative, and demonstrate the significant contribution that it would make in the field of synthetic biology, a field that I am certain will play a central role in the world in the years to come. ” Read the President’s letter
Special Events
Team BGU_Israel brought synthetic biology to a number of creative venues, to reach some unique audiences and place the discussion in a new context. Ever read a great science fiction novel and discover that actually, it’s close to becoming reality? Or ever go to a wine-tasting and get a taste of synthetic biology? And Ever attended a day of lectures for the general public inspired by synthetic biology?
The Lab: Scientists, Designers and Authors Explore the Frontier and Imagine the Future
Team BGU_Israel participated in an evening of short lectures and videos by authors, scientists, and entrepreneurs as a part of Festival Utopia: Science, Imagination, and the Future. The theme of the evening was science that verges on science fiction, and we spoke about the iGEM project and the future of synthetic biology. The event marked the inauguration of a new project called The Lab, aimed to bring together such cultural figures and scientists to prompt a new and fresh multi-disciplinary conversation. It took place in the Google Campus in Tel Aviv, and was also supported by the US Embassy, the Tel Aviv Municipality, and the Ministry of Culture.
Wine Festival
Ever go to a wine-tasting and get a taste of synthetic biology? Team BGU_Israel was invited by the Beersheba Municipality to participate in its annual wine festival. We set up a stand along top wineries, food stalls and live music, to talk to the general public about synthetic biology over a glass of wine. There was a lot of interest and the event created some wonderful dialogue (especially as the night went on and the attendees got tipsier…).
Meet SynBio at BGU
Synthetic biology sounds amazing, but the true magic lies in the lab work. This is the basis of a special hands-on synthetic biology seminar, organized by Team BGU_Israel. We gathered a number of leaders, entrepreneurs, and researchers to experience synthetic biology up close and personal. Attendees range from the Head of Planning and personal manager in the IDF; high ranked officer from the intelligence corps; CEO of Space.il, Israeli candidate in Google Lunar XPRIZE; CEO of Israeli Aerospace Industry factory; A leading Israeli researcher in nanotechnology; And a researcher in The interdisciplinary Center for Technology Analysis & Forecasting in Tel Aviv University. The lab experience will be followed by a conference, with lectures open to the public on the science of synthetic biology, as well as the industrial and philosophical ramifications.Check out the event's schedule here.
Israel and Beyond - Meeting with the Deputy Mayor of Lyon
Beer Sheva and Lyon have been sister cities since 1980 and we pursued this opportunity to reach out to people beyond Israel. We set up a meeting with the deputy mayor of Lyon, Ms. Evelyne Haguenauer, on October 9th at the city hall of Lyon, just before the Jamboree begins. We intend to present our project to her and exchange flags.
Art
To spice up our outreach efforts, we looked for humorous, creative and fun ways to promote synthetic biology. One of our initiatives was connecting synthetic biology to art!
SynBio Caricature Competition
We organized a synthetic biology caricature contest that we advertised in various art programs and on Facebook, to give a chance for art creative way to explain synthetic biology in an illustration of any kind. Our purpose was both to collect funny and sharp caricatures and to let people with no biological background think about synthetic biology and describe it or criticize it using art.
A Gallery in Google Campus
We took interesting pictures and illustrations of past iGEM projects and made them into an iGEM gallery, to pique interest in synthetic biology. The exhibit included 20 pictures from past iGEM groups, each with a short caption explaining the project and the image. The gallery was shown in the Tel Aviv Google Campus during an evening of mini-lectures in which we participated as a part of Festival Utopia.
Bio Ethics
As part of our outreach efforts, we wanted to understand and foster dialogue regarding the ethical concerns that people have about the field of synthetic biology. Our purpose was not only to hear people’s thoughts, but also to give them a voice and an opportunity to interact with researchers. The release of genetically modified organisms could affect society as a whole, and therefore the public should be well informed, educated, and given the chance to voice opinions and concerns. To do so, we included a question in Our survey asking whether the respondent identified with a number of ethical concerns, and added an open field where people could write any other thoughts they had, which 122 people filled out. In addition, we asked the same question in our Facebook group and a number of other online forums. To get some varied perspectives, we also spoke to Yael Ifergan, the head of the Greenpeace Israel campaign for marking genetically engineered products, and Prof. Isaac (Yanni) Nevo, the chair of the Ben Gurion University Department of Philosophy. Here, we have highlighted four different concerns that arose again and again, and attempted to address them and consider their consequences.
1. Genetic engineering will be abused by big corporations for profit.
2. Genetic engineering will increase the gap between rich and poor.
3. This technology could be used for biological warfare.
- Strong, international treaties dedicated to preventing biological warfare. Such a treaty exists, the Biological Weapons Convention from 1975, but it allows for a number of loopholes, such as outlawing only the ”development” of biological weapons but not ”research”, providing no concrete upper limit on ”acceptable” stockpiles of weapons, and allowing stockpiling for defensive needs.[2]
- The creation of a scientific code of ethics, similar to the Hippocratic Oath for doctors. Courses on ethics and discussions of moral questions should be a mandatory part of university education for scientists.
- An end to secrecy regarding the research of biological warfare. At the moment, much of government research is confidential, or hidden under the guise of defensive measures. This veil of secrecy has crippled public debate and left the actual state of biological weaponry unclear.
4. GMOs will undergo mutations and researchers will lose control over them.
Continue the journey: read about our Continuity.
References
[1] Harmon, Amy (2013) ‘Golden Rice: Lifesaver?’, The New York Times, 24 August. Available online [2] Liptak, Adam (2013) ‘Justices, 9-0, Bar Patenting Genes,’ The New York Times, 13 June. Available online [3] The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, ‘What We Do: Agricultural Development.’ Available online [4] Zimmerman, Eilene (2013) ‘The race to a $100 genome,’ CNNMoney, 25 June. Available online [5] Suzuki, David; Knudtson, Peter. Genethics: The Clash Between the New Genetics and Human Values. Harvard University Press, 1990. 192-221. [6] Ibid., 215. [7] Moe-Behrens, G. H. G., Davis, R., Haynes, K. A., Preparing synthetic biology for the world. Front Microbiol. 4(5) 2013, doi: 10.3389/fmicb.2013.00005