Team:BYU Provo/Outreach

A big hurdle for getting many synthetic biology parts into use (especially into public use) is the general public's fear of genetically modified anything. We wanted to create an early education program that may one day lead to a deeper public understanding and acceptance of products like ours (such as our bacteriophage library for pharmaceutical delivery or E. coli modified to kill cholera in drinking water). We created a children's book "The Adventures of Baxter Bacteria" that has a fun fantasy story followed by an educational parents guide, including information about bacteriophage and plasmids. In addition, we conducted pre- and post- tests to see if reading our book improved basic understanding of synthetic biology concepts. We are currently talking with publishers agents to get this book distributed on a larger scale.

After our statistical analysis of the ability of "The Adventures of Baxter Bacteria" to promote increased understanding of synthetic biology, we now desire to share this book with the world. "The Adventures of Baxter Bacteria" is being taken to a publisher's fair in Germany and it is our hope that it will be published on a large scale. The scientists and discoverers of tomorrow need to be inspired today! We have enjoyed our role in promoting synthetic biology as a means of improving our World. In the event that a publisher publishes our book, a part of the proceeds will be given to fund future BYU iGem teams!