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Team:Heidelberg/Outreach
From 2013.igem.org
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| - | <div id="expertbox" class="box" data-name="Experts" data-desc="We | + | <div id="expertbox" class="box" data-name="Experts" data-desc="We highly value interactions with experts from different scientific areas in order to get input and reflect on our own work as a student team. Focusing on one specific project for weeks and months poses the risk of losing sight of the big picture and getting lost in details. Input from experts from outside of our own research proved to be very helpful and opened up fascinating new aspects of our project. We discussed our project with multiple experts in order to obtain as much feedback concerning various aspects of our work as possible. Our reference persons (whom we are very thankful for spending their valuable time with us) were: Prof. Dr. Rainer Zawatzky, safety representative of the DKFZ for scientific input and safety concerns, Dorothea van Aaken, pedagogue for environmental education and representative of the BUND for safety concerns, the secular humanists Heidelberg for ethical input, the Federal German Armed Forces for safety concerns and finally TBM Edelmetal Recycling (a company in gold recycling) for technical input. |
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| + | We talked to <a href=http://www.dkfz.de/de/f030/groups/zawatzky/>Prof. Dr. Rainer Zawatzky, who is <b>group leader and safety representative at the <a href=http://www.dkfz.de/en/index.html>German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)</b> as well as <b>deputy chairman of the regional office of the <a href=http://www.bund.net/ueber_uns/bund_in_english/>BUND</b> (a German NGO for preservation of the environment) not only for safety concerns, but also majorly for receiving input from a scientific expert. The discussion we engaged in mainly dealt with three topics: Impacts of synthetic biology in general (and our project in particular) on the environment, synthetic biology as a risk-technology and sustainability, as we intend to provide an energy-efficient alternative to conventional gold-recycling. | ||
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| + | We received first input concerning the communication of our project and our software to the general public. Prof. Zawatzky pointed out that possible concerns of the public regarding our project are negligible – at least for the planning of our project. In his long experience as researcher, he often experienced anxiety of non-scientists towards his research and doubts the effectiveness of advances in Human Practice, as discussions with concerned people may not lead to the expected result. However, we believe that it is in fact possible to address and to banish fears by informing society about one’s work and by promoting communication between science and the society.<br /><br /> | ||
| - | + | With Mrs. Van Aaken, who not only is a <b>pedagogue for environmental education</b>, but also <b>member of the BUND</b>, we talked about the impact of synthetic biology on environment and on our lives in general. We cannot foresee all consequences and the impact our actions will have for the future – which accounts for both, the interactions of our “creations” with different ecosystems as well as the impact of synthetic food or medicine on our bodies. The evaluation of possible risks arising from them has to be done according to the specific use of the synthetic product. Furthermore, we should return to our essential needs instead of the urge to pile up cheap goods and wealth at the expense of nature and the poor.<br /><br /> | |
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| - | With Mrs. Van Aaken, who not only is a pedagogue for environmental education, but also member of the BUND, we talked about the impact of synthetic biology on environment and on our lives in general. We cannot foresee all consequences and the impact our actions will have for the future – which accounts for both, the interactions of our “creations” with different ecosystems as well as the | + | |
| - | Besides this general issue, we also considered the question whether synthetic biology is an artificial process or rather something natural. When interacting with | + | Besides this general issue, we also considered the question whether synthetic biology is an artificial process or rather something natural. When interacting with the non-scientific public in general (see below), a common association to synthetic biology was “artificial”. However, we can ask whether synthetic biology actually is human-made artificial or accelerated natural evolution. Addressing these questions in the discussion with Mrs. Van Aaken lead us further in the very theory behind science in general, hence, what natural sciences really are, what nature is and whether our quest for knowledge and technological advance is part of human nature. These considerations opened up an entirely new point of view on what we as scientists-in-training were doing and hence, we thank Mrs. Van Aaken for broadening our horizon during this enlightening afternoon.<br /><br /> |
| - | Seeing safety concerns as one of the major issues in a Human Practice Advance, we wanted to gain a deeper knowledge | + | Seeing safety concerns as one of the major issues in a Human Practice Advance, we wanted to gain a deeper knowledge of professional biosafety, in this case, defense against biological weapons. We arranged to take part in an <b>ABC-defense</b> training (i.e. atomic, biological and chemical weapon defense) organized by the <b>German Armed Forces</b>. Especially the part about biological weapons was of special interest for us, as many people we talked to pointed out safety concerns as one of their major fears regarding synthetic biology. Hence, we wanted to know, how experts in biosafety approach these issues. Read about our <b>experiences</b>!<br /><br /> |
| - | Additionally, as | + | Additionally, as part of our project aims at improving the efficiency of gold-recycling, we concluded that we should gain an understanding of the current methods to recover gold and discuss the potential of our gold recovery approach with experts in this field. Hence, we set up a visit of a delegation of our team to a professional <b>gold-recycling company</b> <a href=http://tbm-edelmetallrecycling.net/>TBM Edelmetall Recycling. This visit will take place in October, as they are working short time over the summer. "> |
<div class="btn btn-default btn-lg" style="vertical-align:left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9);">Experts <span id= "glyphicon1" class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-down"></span><span class="text-left" id="expertnames" style="font-size:12px;"><br><br>Prof. Dr. Rainer Zawatzky <br><br> Dorothea van Aaken <br><br> ABC Unit of German Armed Forces <br><br> TBM Edelmetall Recycling</span> | <div class="btn btn-default btn-lg" style="vertical-align:left; background-color: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.9);">Experts <span id= "glyphicon1" class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-down"></span><span class="text-left" id="expertnames" style="font-size:12px;"><br><br>Prof. Dr. Rainer Zawatzky <br><br> Dorothea van Aaken <br><br> ABC Unit of German Armed Forces <br><br> TBM Edelmetall Recycling</span> | ||
Revision as of 11:17, 4 October 2013
Project
Notebook
Human Practice
Talk Evening 24th October 2013, 6pm @ BioQuant, Heidelberg
Experts
Prof. Dr. Rainer Zawatzky
Dorothea van Aaken
ABC Unit of German Armed Forces
TBM Edelmetall Recycling
Prof. Dr. Rainer Zawatzky
Dorothea van Aaken
ABC Unit of German Armed Forces
TBM Edelmetall Recycling
GeneralPublic
Introductory Talks
Secular Humanists
Introductory Talks
Secular Humanists
Young Generation
Essay Competition
Essay Competition
Art & Science
Not invented by Nature
Project by Joanna
Not invented by Nature
Project by Joanna
Our project is designed to provide knowledge to a broader spectrum of people by creating a framework for in vivo peptide synthesis by NRPS including a design-tool for customization of the desired peptides. Therefore, we believe that it is of very high priority to inform the public about our project and to receive feedback and personal perceptions from the society. Hence, we build our concept for the interaction with the public upon four pillars: First, interaction and cooperation with experts from multiple scientific fields, second, interaction with the society in general and third, the young generation in particular. Finally, a close cooperation with artists is the fourth pillar. We round off our human practice advance by bringing together these four pillars under the roof of a talk evening on our future with synthetic biology, allowing interaction and discussion among them.
As conclusion, we believe that our Human Practice advance is well-established on different levels of interaction, as we searched the dialogue with various groups within the society. Furthermore, we strongly believe that we could open up people’s minds to synthetic biology and that we were able to clarify several misunderstanding or misconceptions. This impression is not only our belief, but was also the major feedback we received during our work for Human Practices. In addition to that, the exchange of impression was also very valuable for us and the advance within our project: Often the truth is as an object on a round table, if seen from one position it may clearly be identified as one contour, but from another point of view, it may be something completely different. Choosing the dialogue with people from different backgrounds would then be similar to moving around the table and to understand the nature of the object at the center at least a little better.
As conclusion, we believe that our Human Practice advance is well-established on different levels of interaction, as we searched the dialogue with various groups within the society. Furthermore, we strongly believe that we could open up people’s minds to synthetic biology and that we were able to clarify several misunderstanding or misconceptions. This impression is not only our belief, but was also the major feedback we received during our work for Human Practices. In addition to that, the exchange of impression was also very valuable for us and the advance within our project: Often the truth is as an object on a round table, if seen from one position it may clearly be identified as one contour, but from another point of view, it may be something completely different. Choosing the dialogue with people from different backgrounds would then be similar to moving around the table and to understand the nature of the object at the center at least a little better.
