Regions/Europe/MeetingofYoungMinds

From 2012.igem.org

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<h2>Meeting of Young Minds Award </h2>
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<h2>Meeting of Young Minds</h2>
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<h3>Call for Proposals </h3>
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<h3>Topics for the Meeting of Young Minds 2012 announced</h3>
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For the most inspiring, relevant and well-prepared<br/>
For the most inspiring, relevant and well-prepared<br/>
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On the Friday night preceding the next African-European iGEM Jamboree in Amsterdam (5 October 2012) the Rathenau Instituut will stage the Meeting of Young Minds Debate 2012, in collaboration with the regional iGEM organization committee.
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On the night preceding the first European iGEM jamboree in 2011 the Rathenau Instituut and the regional iGEM committee organized a <a href=" http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g5YPUFUayTo">Meeting of Young Minds</a>. Future politicians and future synthetic biologists discussed the promise and perils of synthetic biology. Also this year the organizations have joined hands to organize the Meeting of Young Minds 2012, which will take place in the evening of 5 October.
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Last year the Meeting of Young Minds offered Dutch political youth organizations a stage to debate their views about synthetic biology with members of the iGEM community. This year we invite iGEM teams to prepare for a debate involving young people representing the worlds of science, the public and policy making. Teams from Africa and Europe are encouraged to propose topics for debate. We welcome (international) collaboration between teams.
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For this year’s edition iGEM teams were invited to submit topics for debate. Based on their proposals the UCL iGEM team and the iGEM team of the TU Delft were invited to work out their plan for debate. The Rathenau Instituut and European iGEM committee are now happy to announce the topics:
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Topics for debate should relate to the potential significance and implications of SynBio for society, including current controversies and possible future developments, public responses and political challenges, issues of risk and regulation, as well as more inclusive and intrusive transformations that may be expected from SynBio for our societies and daily lives. Below you find a non-exclusive list of potential applications and issues in the field of synbio, just to trigger your imagination and creativity. You might conceive of any combination of applications and (multiple) issues.
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The first topic is the discussion about <i>the controversial H5N1 avian influenza research</i>. Developments in synthetic biology will continuously make the (re)creation of viruses easier. How wise is this kind of research then? Under the auspices of debate moderator prof. Frans Brom (Rathenau Instituut), the discussion will be kicked off by an expert panel including amongst others, prof. Hans Westerhoff (VU University Amsterdam), Koos van der Bruggen (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences), and two Erasmus MC researchers, that were part of the team that conducted the research.  
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After the break the discussion will take us to the future, namely to a public hearing set in 2030. By then synthetic biology is widely applied. Synthetic organisms are for example used on large scale to turn barren soil into fertile soil. However, in spite of all precautionary measures, due to great coincidence the organisms mutate and cause for severe illness. An ad hoc European Synthetic Biology Council is established to conduct research on this urgent matter. The Council is presided by Annemiek Nelis (Dutch Safety Board). Futhermore, the council consists of a number of synthetic biologists and politicians, such as GreenLeft politician Gert-Jan Krabbendam.
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<th><b> Fields of application</b></th>
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<th><b> Issues</b></th>
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<td> Biobased economy
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                      <ul TYPE="square">
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                      <li>Biofuels</li>
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                      <li>Photosynthetic energy production</li>
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                      <li>Biochemicals </li>
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                      </ul>
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                </td>
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                      <li>Innovation</li>
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                      <li>Regulation</li>
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                      <li>Biosafety</li>
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                      <li>Biosecurity / dual use</li>
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                      <li>Distributive justice</li>
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                      <li>Intellectual property</li>
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                      <li>Sustainability</li>
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                      <li>Naturalness</li>
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                      <li>Biodiversity</li>
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                      <li>Playing God?</li>
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<td> (Global public) health
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                      <li>Production of pharmaceuticals</li>
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                      <li>Diagnostic products</li>
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                      <li>Therapeutic products</li>
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                      <li>Targeted delivery</li>
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                      <li>Vaccins</li>
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<td> Agriculture, food and environment
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                      <li>Crop  enhancement</li>
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                      <li>Biosensors</li>
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                      <li>Remediation</li>
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<td> Exotic applications
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                      <li>Resurrection of extinct species</li>
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                      <li>Artificial life</li>
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<td> Consumer and lifestyle products
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                      <li>Cosmetics / personal hygiene</li>
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                      <li>Pets</li>
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                </td>
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<td> Do-it-yourself Bio
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                      <li>Just for fun</li>
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                      <li>Or more?</li>
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                      </ul>
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                </td>
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<td> Military / Terroristic applications
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                      <ul TYPE="square">
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                      <li>New biological arms race?</li>
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                      <li>Applications other than weapons</li>
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                      </ul>
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                </td>
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We invite iGEM teams to submit proposals that include (1) a well-defined topic for debate, (2) major issues and questions that might be highlighted, (3) relevant sources of information to prepare for the debate, and (4) an indication of the major stakeholders and audiences to be involved.
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The Rathenau Instituut and the European iGEM committee are convinced that these topics are excellent starting points for an exciting Meeting of Young Minds 2012, and welcome all iGEM participants to attend the event.
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Proposals (500 words) should be submitted to the Rathenau Instituut before 21 May 2012 (to be sent to Virgil Rerimassie: email address below). From the proposals, the Rathenau Instituut will select, in collaboration with the regional iGEM committee, three topics that will be staged for debate during the Meeting of Young Minds 2012.
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Programma:<br>
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19:30 – Welcome <br>
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19:40 – Debate 1: The H5N1 avian influenza research <br>
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20:40 – Break<br>
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21:10 – Debate 2: A synthetic biology crisis<br>
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22:10 – Closing words and announcement Winner Meeting of Young Minds 2012 Award<br>
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22:20 – Drinks<br>
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The event will be supported musically by bass guitar virtuoso Jay Tee Teterissa and Jos van Dijk on drums.  
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Teams that have been selected will have to prepare a well-argued position paper (2500 words) in which they further develop the proposed topic and issues for debate. The content of the paper should be informed by relevant literature, as well as the views from relevant stakeholder groups and audiences. Teams should also propose a scheme for the organization of a fifty minutes round of debate during the Friday evening of the Meeting of Young Minds, including major questions to be debated. The three selected teams (or combinations of teams) will be offered support for their preparatory work by a network of European institutions working in the field of technology assessment.
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For more information you can also look at <a href=" http://www.rathenau.nl/en/themes/project/synthetic-biology.html ">website of the Rathenau Instituut</a>.
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Guests are welcome to visit for free and can register <a href="http://www.rathenau.nl/agenda/bijeenkomsten/meeting-of-young-minds-over-synthetische-biologie-op-5-oktober-2012.html">here</a> (registration is not necessary for iGEM members).
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During the Friday night Meeting of Young Minds members of the teams will be invited to debate their topic, views and position on stage with a selected group of young people, representing a diversity of scientific, political and societal organisations. The iGEM team which performs in a most inspiring and excellent way during the debate will be awarded the Meeting of Young Minds Debate Medal.
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As a general support for the preparation and elaboration of proposals for debate a Meeting of Young Minds webpage will be available on the <a href=" http://www.rathenau.nl/en/themes/project/synthetic-biology.html ">website of the Rathenau Instituut</a>.
 
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For more information please contact Virgil Rerimassie: v.rerimassie@rathenau.nl
 
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Download a <a href="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2012/e/ec/Regional_Europe_Meeting_of_Young_Minds_2012.pdf">pdf</a> of the call for proposals.
 
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Latest revision as of 20:38, 3 October 2012


iGEM Europe

Meeting of Young Minds


Topics for the Meeting of Young Minds 2012 announced

For the most inspiring, relevant and well-prepared
Science and Society SynBio Debate.
Sponsored by the Rathenau Instituut, The Hague

On the night preceding the first European iGEM jamboree in 2011 the Rathenau Instituut and the regional iGEM committee organized a Meeting of Young Minds. Future politicians and future synthetic biologists discussed the promise and perils of synthetic biology. Also this year the organizations have joined hands to organize the Meeting of Young Minds 2012, which will take place in the evening of 5 October.

For this year’s edition iGEM teams were invited to submit topics for debate. Based on their proposals the UCL iGEM team and the iGEM team of the TU Delft were invited to work out their plan for debate. The Rathenau Instituut and European iGEM committee are now happy to announce the topics:

The first topic is the discussion about the controversial H5N1 avian influenza research. Developments in synthetic biology will continuously make the (re)creation of viruses easier. How wise is this kind of research then? Under the auspices of debate moderator prof. Frans Brom (Rathenau Instituut), the discussion will be kicked off by an expert panel including amongst others, prof. Hans Westerhoff (VU University Amsterdam), Koos van der Bruggen (Royal Netherlands Academy of Arts and Sciences), and two Erasmus MC researchers, that were part of the team that conducted the research.

After the break the discussion will take us to the future, namely to a public hearing set in 2030. By then synthetic biology is widely applied. Synthetic organisms are for example used on large scale to turn barren soil into fertile soil. However, in spite of all precautionary measures, due to great coincidence the organisms mutate and cause for severe illness. An ad hoc European Synthetic Biology Council is established to conduct research on this urgent matter. The Council is presided by Annemiek Nelis (Dutch Safety Board). Futhermore, the council consists of a number of synthetic biologists and politicians, such as GreenLeft politician Gert-Jan Krabbendam.

The Rathenau Instituut and the European iGEM committee are convinced that these topics are excellent starting points for an exciting Meeting of Young Minds 2012, and welcome all iGEM participants to attend the event.

Programma:
19:30 – Welcome
19:40 – Debate 1: The H5N1 avian influenza research
20:40 – Break
21:10 – Debate 2: A synthetic biology crisis
22:10 – Closing words and announcement Winner Meeting of Young Minds 2012 Award
22:20 – Drinks
The event will be supported musically by bass guitar virtuoso Jay Tee Teterissa and Jos van Dijk on drums.

For more information you can also look at website of the Rathenau Instituut.
Guests are welcome to visit for free and can register here (registration is not necessary for iGEM members).

Retrieved from "http://2012.igem.org/Regions/Europe/MeetingofYoungMinds"