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Team:UANL Mty-Mexico/Synthetic Tunnel
From 2013.igem.org
Synthetic Biology Tunnel
The Synthetic Biology (SynBio) Tunnel is a project to massively inform the crowd. We gave people of all ages accurate information to understand what SynBio is and how it is carried out. In about 90 minutes and across ten interactive modules, we covered topics from basic molecular biology to applications of SynBio and iGEM. Our objective is to educate people in order to promote a founded, critic judgment. Voilà a glance at the tunnel modules:
Synthetic Biology Tunnel Now! Back to top
Synthetic Biology Tunnel was our main Human Practices activity last year [Tunnel Activity 2012]. We got an audience of approximately 7, 000 people when we made our first edition of the Tunnel at our Biology School, our second at the Niños Héroes part of the National Week of Science and Technology of the Nuevo Leon's state and our third at the Montemorelos Autodromus, a city from our state. But for this year, we continued with this activity, reaching an audience of more than 1,000 people in two more editions: The CIDEB edition and the Special Cuatrociénegas Edition.
Synthetic Biology Tunnel At Cuatrocienegas - Coahulila Back to top
Following the success of synthetic biology Tunnel we received an invitation from the Government of the Cuatrociénegas Town which is one of 38 municipalities of the state of Coahuila, in northern of Mexico, where the tunnel was exposed in elementary schools, junior highs and high schools as well as teachers and researchers of that place. Cuatrociénegas has an important ecological reserve, which is the home of several endemic organisms,it is considered a "time capsule" because it is one of the sites with the greatest variety of biological species on the planet and is a good model to study the primitive Earth since 200 million of years ago was part of the coast of Laurasia. Today, stromatolites can be found dating back approximately 3 500 millions of years. One of the famed endemic organisms is the Bacillus coahuilensis (endemic of Cuatro Cienegas), which has the ability to thrive in salty environments.
Dr. Valeria Souza, from the Institute of Ecology in the UNAM, with the support of businessman Carlos Slim and LALA dairy company, awarded scholarships to 60 students of the CBTA 22 ( Agricultural Technology High School Center) to perform visits on agricultural lands and in 2012 it opened the molecular biology and biotechnology laboratory, in which students can extract DNA from "the wells of their houses, cultivate and sequence it." [García, K., (2013)].
In order to promote the protection of biodiversity of the place and let to know some endemic organisms, the tunnel modules had different modifications focused on the field work of Cuatrociénegas.
Slider de los carteles del tunel de edicion 4cienegasThese applications allowed us to raise awareness among people of the value of natural resources and sustainable use of them resulting in an interest in the various applications of synthetic biology applied in that community. The little lakes of Cuatrociénegas are special to keep an analogous food chain from 550 million years ago, because their organisms are related with marine species that may be direct descendants of the ancient shallow seas in the area. In addition, these organisms are adapted to live in extreme conditions, such as almost total lack of phosphorus in the water and the high incidence of solar radiation. So the NASA considers Cuatrociénegas one of the few ecosystems model for understanding the evolution of the early Earth, and for design studies regarding the possibility of life on other planets, such as Mars.
The team had the opportunity to visit the blue lake and the different gypsum Duanas, which made the trip had a great experience, and helped us understand the natural treasures of the place.
Thanks to this trip the team joined and created bonds of fellowship. Making this a great opportunity to coexist outside and within the scholar stuff.
Impact Back to top
The synthetic biology tunnel was on exposition on the 6th, 7th and 8th of December with the participation of 15 volunteers who promoted synthetic biology to all elementary, middle, and high schools in the community. Since the Protection Area of Flora and Fauna of Cuatrociénegas is one of the most important regions of North America in preservation of biodiversity, we exposed how to promote the preservation of these areas through additional information about this region which was included in the Tunnel. The experience of this trip made stronger the team bonds of fellowship. Being this a great opportunity to coexist outside and within academia.
