Team:TU Munich/Human Practice/Information Day

From 2012.igem.org

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==iGEM Germany action day for synthetic biology==
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==iGEM Germany Action Day for Synthetic Biology==
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====Background Information====  
====Background Information====  
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[[File:IGEM-Germany-logo.jpg|200px|thumb|right|German iGEM logo]]
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[[File:IGEM-Germany-logo.jpg|200px|thumb|right|'''Fig. 1: German iGEM logo''']]
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On the Conference in Berlin held by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research all German iGEM Teams agreed on an Action Day, Date: 25th of August. The idea behind this day was to raise awareness of the competition and Syntethic Biology all over the country. Our team wrote a press release for all other teams, explaining SynBio and the BioBrick principle. If you understand German you can read it further down on this side.
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At a conference in Berlin organized by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research all German iGEM Teams decided to take part in a '''Germany-wide''' "Action Day" on August 25th. The idea was to attract attention to iGEM and synthetic biology in Germany. '''The iGEM teams worked together''' to put this idea into practice. We wrote a [https://2012.igem.org/Team:TU_Munich/Human_Practice/Information_Day#Press_release_in_English press release] for all teams that was published in several newspapers all over the country.  
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On the 25th we had an information booth in the city center of Munich, directly at the Karlsplatz. We shared this booth with the other Munich iGEM team, the LMU.
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This booth was to inform the people about SynBio and our project. In Germany the people are very controversial about GMOs in food and so talked in Munich to a lot of people. The arguments from the people were mainly that they are afraid to eat genetically modified food, because they are not sure what happens within their body.
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Discussions about iGEM were not that negative, because they liked the concept of making stnadarized parts and the fact that all the projects are transparent.
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====What we did====
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Each iGEM Team organized a kind of "SynBio Action" in its hometown on August 25th. We had an '''information booth''' in the city of Munich that we shared with the '''other Munich iGEM team (LMU)'''. During the day, we informed people about synthetic biology, iGEM and our project. Although many people in Germany are critical about genetic engineering, they were '''really interested in iGEM''' and our project, mainly because it deals with beer. Yet many people argued that they do not support genetically modified food. They are afraid of eating it because they do not know if it interferes with their body functions.  
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On our booth we had two booklets from the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. One with the title "Da ist Biotechnologie drin" (There is biotechnology inside)and "Weiße Biotechnology" (White biotechnology. Besides that our team also made a three pages booklet where the iGEM competition and the two project were presented and explained.Last but not least we had a Comic provided by the SCNAT (Swiss Academy of Science).For the kids we had Lego bricks to explain the idea behind standardized bricks. With this tool we raised the awareness of the kids and had something to explain it with easier. Last but not least we told them of our painting competition.
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[[File:Informationbooklet.pdf]]
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However, we '''organized a poster, information materials and handouts''' to explain the basics of genetic engineering and synthetic biology. Almost everybody liked the idea of iGEM and that we are so ambitious to take part in it. Especially the '''transparency''' of this competition and the '''concept of standardization via BioBricks was favored.'''
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[[File:TUM-legobrick.jpg|200px|thumb|left|Lego Brick for the kids]]
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====What We Did====
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To inform the people about synthetic biology we distributed '''two booklets''' of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. One was entitled '''"Hier steckt Biotechnologie drin"''' (There's biotechnology inside), the other one "Weiße Biotechnologie" (white biotechnology). Besides, we prepared [https://2012.igem.org/File:Informationbooklet.pdf information material] to present iGEM and the two projects of the Munich iGEM teams. Last but not least SCNAT (Swiss Academy of Science) provided us a comic about synthetic biology that we distributed.
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To get the children interested in scientific topics and to explain them the principles of standardized parts, we provided them '''Lego bricks''' at our booth and they build creative constructs. Moreover, many children took part in our painting competition. The challenge was to paint an animal that possesses at least one feature of another animal. 
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[[File:TUM-legobrick.jpg|350px|thumb|left|'''Fig. 2: Lego Brick for the kids''']]
====Conclusion====
====Conclusion====
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All in all the booth was a raving success. Our place directly at the beginning of the pedestrian area was great because a lot of people passed our booth. We stood there for four hours on a sunny day and it was never boring. Our project rose awareness rather easily, because the topic "beer" is a good starting point for a short discussion. The people know about it, it is comprehensible and therefore cathpenny. The oportunity to talk with one of us and let the children paint in the meantime was a convincing concept. We did our best and are convinced that almost everybody who talked with us on the 25th of August at least understood the concept of BioBricks and the analogy with the Lego Brick. All in all it was fun for us and the pedestrians, as you can see on our pictures.
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In total the Germany-wide "Action Day" was '''really successful'''. We addressed a lot of people and informed them about the ideas and opportunities of synthetic biology. Especially our project attracted much interest because everybody in Germany (and mainly in Bavaria) likes beer and consequently the idea to modify it using "super yeast". It is a topic everybody can talk about and thus it is easy to communicate the keynotes of genetic engineering and synthetic biology.  
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It was astounding that it was easy to talk with the people about Synbio when we told them about the project and the beer. This was a very good introduction which the people could understand and which was not to complex. So our good discussions with the people is owed to our "endproduct"
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The children often '''painted or built constructs with Lego bricks''' while their '''parents talked with us about iGEM and our project.''' Many people were attracted by our poster and stopped to read it. We are really happy that we addressed so many people and that we communicated them the principles of iGEM and BioBricks.
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All in all it was a lot of fun for us and the pedestrians - have a look at the pictures and see for yourself!
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===Children painting contest illustrating synthetic biology===
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===Children Painting Contest Illustrating Synthetic Biology===
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[[File:TUM-TicketsZoo.jpg|200px|thumb|left|The tickets for Munich Zoo]]
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[[File:TUM-TicketsZoo.jpg|200px|thumb|left|'''Fig. 3: The tickets for Munich Zoo''']]
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The idea behind the painting contest was to explain Synthetic Biology to kids in a rather simple way. It was explained that they can transfer a feature from one animal to another animal to create a completely new one. Then we had a short talk about our project and told them that we are doing exactly the same thing, but with smaller organisms and mostly features from plants. In the end there was a comparison between the features and a lego brick, so that it got clearer that really everything can be combined with everything within this competion. After that they got a lego brick as a present and started painting. To have an impulsion the kids could win 10 tickets to the "Tierpark Hellabrunn", the zoo in Munich.
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The painting competition was a descriptive way to explain children the principles of synthetic biology. By transferring a feature of one animal to another you can '''create a completely new organism'''. All in all this is the idea of synthetic biology. We also explained the children that we do this in our project as well. Yet we do not work with big animals but with smaller organisms. Finally, we are able to transfer features of plants to yeast. Besides, we explained the principles of iGEM using Lego Bricks and the children built interesting constructs on their own.
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The children who participated in our competition won tickets to the zoo in Munich ("Tierpark Hellabrunn"). They painted really nice pictures as you can see below.
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We learned from the kids that there are actually no boarders for imagination and that the statement "thinking outside the box" was here more present than anywhere else. They talked to us and were so enthusiastic about SynBio, because for them it is a tool to change the world. Showing us their view of the world and as a consequence make things very simple had a huge impact on us.  
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===The winning pictures were:===
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===The Winning Pictures:===
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[[File:TUM12_painting-contest1.jpg|180px]]
[[File:TUM12_painting-contest1.jpg|180px]]
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===Press release in English===
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===Press Release in English===
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This press release is the neutral version which was sent to all iGEM Teams which participated in the Action Day. It was the first try to unify all German teams at one day. To promote this our team wrote a press release for all other teams which you can read here in a translated version.
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<br/><br/><br/>
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'''What Lego Bricks and Biology have in common'''
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'''What Lego Bricks and Biology have in Common'''
 
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On the 25th of August the German iGEM Teams held a Germany-wide action day. In [City] students of the [University] informed about Synthetic Biology and the iGEM competition. Students of the [University] participate this year, like the last years too, in iGEM. iGEM is the abbreviation for "international Genetically Engineered Machine competition“. This international competition in the field of Synthetic Biology is held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, since 2003. Within the years iGEM got one of the most famous competitions in the steadily growing field of SynBio. In the last year 160 student teams from all over the world participated.
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On the 25th of August the German iGEM Teams held a German-wide actionday. In [City] Students of the [University] inform about synthetic Biology and the iGEM competition. Students of the [University] participate this year, like the last years too, in iGEM. iGEM is the abbreviation for international Genetically Engineered Machine competition“. This international competition in the field of synthetic Biology is held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambrige, since 2003. Within the years iGEM got one of the most famous competition, in the steadily growing field of SynBio. In the last year 160 student teams from all over the world participated.
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Synthetic Biology is an interdisciplinary field of study, combining molecular biology, chemistry, engineering, biotechnology and IT.
Synthetic Biology is an interdisciplinary field of study, combining molecular biology, chemistry, engineering, biotechnology and IT.
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The aim is to create new biological systems which have certain characteristics and features and do not exists naturally. Integrated in an organism these features are transferred. These systems are created in a modular way what is the gist of SynBio and iGEM. These biological systems are created from single gene parts, calles BioBricks. Similar to Lego bricks these Biobricks can be combined in different and new ways. For the completion the teams can use BioBricks from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts, comparable to a box of different Lego Bricks. There is no limit, anything is possible.
+
The aim is to create new biological systems which can be transferred in organisms and grant them certain characteristics and features that don't exist naturally. These systems are created in a modular way what is the gist of SynBio and iGEM. These biological systems are designed by single gene parts, called BioBricks. Similar to Lego bricks these Biobricks can be combined in different and new ways. For the completion the teams can use BioBricks from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts, comparable to a box of different Lego Bricks. There is no limit, anything is possible.
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The teams have half a year to realize their project, either using existing BioBricks or creating new ones. The projects vary a lot, one team faces environmental problems, others builts very sensitive biosensors and another team deals with medical problems.  
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The teams have half a year to realize their project, either using existing BioBricks or creating new ones. The projects vary a lot, one team faces environmental problems, others build very sensitive biosensors and another team deals with medical problems.  
In the beginning of November the teams present their projects and the results at the “final” at the MIT to the other teams.  
In the beginning of November the teams present their projects and the results at the “final” at the MIT to the other teams.  
The [university] has this year again an iGEM Team. It is dealing with [short description]. If you want to know more about the project come on the 25th of August between [time] and [time] to the information booth at [place].  
The [university] has this year again an iGEM Team. It is dealing with [short description]. If you want to know more about the project come on the 25th of August between [time] and [time] to the information booth at [place].  
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The action day takes part in several German cities, the team inform about iGEM, synthetic biology and their project
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The action day takes part in several German cities, the team inform about iGEM, Synthetic Biology and their project
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===Press release in German===
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===Press Release in German===
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This is the press release which was used from all German iGEM Teams participating in the Action Day
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This is the press release which was used by all German iGEM Teams participating in the Action Day

Latest revision as of 17:45, 26 October 2012


Contents

iGEM Germany Action Day for Synthetic Biology


Background Information

Fig. 1: German iGEM logo

At a conference in Berlin organized by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research all German iGEM Teams decided to take part in a Germany-wide "Action Day" on August 25th. The idea was to attract attention to iGEM and synthetic biology in Germany. The iGEM teams worked together to put this idea into practice. We wrote a press release for all teams that was published in several newspapers all over the country.

Each iGEM Team organized a kind of "SynBio Action" in its hometown on August 25th. We had an information booth in the city of Munich that we shared with the other Munich iGEM team (LMU). During the day, we informed people about synthetic biology, iGEM and our project. Although many people in Germany are critical about genetic engineering, they were really interested in iGEM and our project, mainly because it deals with beer. Yet many people argued that they do not support genetically modified food. They are afraid of eating it because they do not know if it interferes with their body functions.

However, we organized a poster, information materials and handouts to explain the basics of genetic engineering and synthetic biology. Almost everybody liked the idea of iGEM and that we are so ambitious to take part in it. Especially the transparency of this competition and the concept of standardization via BioBricks was favored.

What We Did

To inform the people about synthetic biology we distributed two booklets of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. One was entitled "Hier steckt Biotechnologie drin" (There's biotechnology inside), the other one "Weiße Biotechnologie" (white biotechnology). Besides, we prepared information material to present iGEM and the two projects of the Munich iGEM teams. Last but not least SCNAT (Swiss Academy of Science) provided us a comic about synthetic biology that we distributed. To get the children interested in scientific topics and to explain them the principles of standardized parts, we provided them Lego bricks at our booth and they build creative constructs. Moreover, many children took part in our painting competition. The challenge was to paint an animal that possesses at least one feature of another animal.

Fig. 2: Lego Brick for the kids

Conclusion

In total the Germany-wide "Action Day" was really successful. We addressed a lot of people and informed them about the ideas and opportunities of synthetic biology. Especially our project attracted much interest because everybody in Germany (and mainly in Bavaria) likes beer and consequently the idea to modify it using "super yeast". It is a topic everybody can talk about and thus it is easy to communicate the keynotes of genetic engineering and synthetic biology. The children often painted or built constructs with Lego bricks while their parents talked with us about iGEM and our project. Many people were attracted by our poster and stopped to read it. We are really happy that we addressed so many people and that we communicated them the principles of iGEM and BioBricks.



All in all it was a lot of fun for us and the pedestrians - have a look at the pictures and see for yourself!



Children Painting Contest Illustrating Synthetic Biology

Fig. 3: The tickets for Munich Zoo

The painting competition was a descriptive way to explain children the principles of synthetic biology. By transferring a feature of one animal to another you can create a completely new organism. All in all this is the idea of synthetic biology. We also explained the children that we do this in our project as well. Yet we do not work with big animals but with smaller organisms. Finally, we are able to transfer features of plants to yeast. Besides, we explained the principles of iGEM using Lego Bricks and the children built interesting constructs on their own. The children who participated in our competition won tickets to the zoo in Munich ("Tierpark Hellabrunn"). They painted really nice pictures as you can see below. We learned from the kids that there are actually no boarders for imagination and that the statement "thinking outside the box" was here more present than anywhere else. They talked to us and were so enthusiastic about SynBio, because for them it is a tool to change the world. Showing us their view of the world and as a consequence make things very simple had a huge impact on us.



The Winning Pictures:

TUM12 painting-contest1.jpg TUM12 painting-contest2.jpg TUM12 painting-contest3.jpg TUM12 painting-contest4.jpg TUM12 painting-contest5.jpg TUM12 painting-contest6.jpg TUM12 painting-contest7.jpg TUM12 painting-contest8.jpg TUM12 painting-contest9.jpg TUM12 painting-contest10.jpg

Press Release in English

This press release is the neutral version which was sent to all iGEM Teams which participated in the Action Day. It was the first try to unify all German teams at one day. To promote this our team wrote a press release for all other teams which you can read here in a translated version.


What Lego Bricks and Biology have in common


On the 25th of August the German iGEM Teams held a Germany-wide action day. In [City] students of the [University] informed about Synthetic Biology and the iGEM competition. Students of the [University] participate this year, like the last years too, in iGEM. iGEM is the abbreviation for "international Genetically Engineered Machine competition“. This international competition in the field of Synthetic Biology is held at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, since 2003. Within the years iGEM got one of the most famous competitions in the steadily growing field of SynBio. In the last year 160 student teams from all over the world participated. Synthetic Biology is an interdisciplinary field of study, combining molecular biology, chemistry, engineering, biotechnology and IT.

The aim is to create new biological systems which can be transferred in organisms and grant them certain characteristics and features that don't exist naturally. These systems are created in a modular way what is the gist of SynBio and iGEM. These biological systems are designed by single gene parts, called BioBricks. Similar to Lego bricks these Biobricks can be combined in different and new ways. For the completion the teams can use BioBricks from the Registry of Standard Biological Parts, comparable to a box of different Lego Bricks. There is no limit, anything is possible.

The teams have half a year to realize their project, either using existing BioBricks or creating new ones. The projects vary a lot, one team faces environmental problems, others build very sensitive biosensors and another team deals with medical problems. In the beginning of November the teams present their projects and the results at the “final” at the MIT to the other teams.

The [university] has this year again an iGEM Team. It is dealing with [short description]. If you want to know more about the project come on the 25th of August between [time] and [time] to the information booth at [place]. The action day takes part in several German cities, the team inform about iGEM, Synthetic Biology and their project

Press Release in German

This is the press release which was used by all German iGEM Teams participating in the Action Day


Was LEGO Steine mit Biologie zu tun haben

Am 25.08.2012 laden die deutschen iGEM-Teams zum deutschlandweiten Aktionstag. In [Ort] informieren Studenten der [Universität] über Synthetische Biologie und den iGEM Wettbewerb. Wie in den vergangenen Jahren nehmen Studenten der [Universität] auch in diesem Jahr wieder an iGEM teil. iGEM steht für „international Genetically Engineered Machine competition“. Dieser internationale Wettbewerb im Bereich der Synthetischen Biologie wird seit 2003 jährlich am Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge (USA) ausgetragen. Über die Jahre hat sich iGEM zu einem der bedeutendsten internationalen Ereignisse auf dem rasch wachsenden Feld der Synthetischen Biologie entwickelt. Allein im letzten Jahr nahmen über 160 Studententeams aus der ganzen Welt an iGEM teil. Die Synthetische Biologie ist ein interdisziplinäres Forschungsgebiet, in dem die Fachbereiche Molekularbiologie, Chemie, Ingenieurwissenschaften, Biotechnologie und Informationstechnik verschmelzen. Ziel der Forschung ist die Entwicklung neuer, in der Natur nicht vorkommender, biologischer Systeme, die bestimmte Eigenschaften und Funktionen besitzen. Werden diese biologischen Systeme in einen Organismus eingebaut, verleihen sie ihm die gewünschten Eigenschaften. Der modulare Aufbau der neuen biologischen Systeme ist das Kernstück der Synthetischen Biologie und des iGEM Wettbewerbs. Die biologischen Systeme werden aus einzelnen genetischen Bausteinen, den sogenannten BioBricks. aufgebaut. Ähnlich wie LEGO Steine können die genetischen Bausteine miteinander zu neuen Kombinationen verknüpft werden. Für den iGEM Wettbewerb können die Studententeams aus der Registry of Standard Biological Parts, vergleichbar mit einer großen Kiste unterschiedlichster LEGO Steine, verschiedene BioBricks auswählen. Der Kreativität der Studenten sind dabei fast keine Grenzen gesetzt. Die Studententeams haben ein halbes Jahr Zeit, um mit Hilfe bestehender oder selbst entworfener BioBricks innovative Forschungsprojekte aus dem Themengebiet der Synthetischen Biologie umzusetzen. Die Wettbewerbsbeiträge sind ganz unterschiedlicher Natur. Während sich die einen mit Umweltfragen auseinandersetzen, bauen die anderen hochsensible Biosensoren, andere wiederum beschäftigen sich mit tiefgreifenden medizinischen Problemen. Anfang November präsentieren die einzelnen Teams ihre Ergebnisse auf dem großen Finale am Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge. Die [Universität] stellt erneut ein iGEM-Team. Dieses Jahr setzt es sich mit [kurze Beschreibung des eigenen Projekts]. Wer mehr über das ambitionierte Projekt erfahren möchte, kann sich am 25. August 2012 zwischen [Anfangszeit] und [Endzeit] Uhr am Informationsstand am [Ort des Informationsstandes] informieren. Neben dem persönlichen Austausch, gibt es umfangreiches Informationsmaterial und [Platz für spezielle Angebote vor Ort].

Der deutschlandweite iGEM Aktionstag findet in ausgewählten Städten Deutschlands statt. Die jeweiligen Teams informieren über Synthetische Biologie, iGEM und die Projekte der jeweiligen ortsansässigen Teams.