Mission Statement
The UIUC 2012 iGEM team has embraced human practices as an opportunity to develop our own sense of ethics and responsibility while promoting general knowledge about synthetic biology.
We have decided to focus our energies on a collaboration to produce informative and thought provoking videos on genetically modified organisms as well as individual presentations on synthetic biology within the Champaign-Urbana community.
Mission Statement
The UIUC 2012 iGEM team has embraced human practices as an opportunity to develop our own sense of ethics and responsibility while promoting general knowledge about synthetic biology.
We have decided to focus our energies on a collaboration to produce informative and thought provoking videos on genetically modified organisms as well as individual presentations on synthetic biology within the Champaign-Urbana community.
Engineering Open House (EOH)
UIUC iGEM was proud to present an exhibit at the 92nd annual 2012 Engineering Open
House, or EOH. Over two sunny days on March 9 and 10, iGEM presented one of over 230
exhibits as part of one of the country’s largest science fairs.
Our exhibit on synthetic biology
and the manipulation of DNA fit perfectly with the event’s theme, “Dream, Design, Discover.”
At our booth we explained what DNA was to school children and then amazed them by
allowing them to extract their own DNA via salt water and rubbing alcohol!
We explained the
amazing uses of biobricks by displaying plates with drawings colored by E. Coli transformed with
YFP, GFP, and mCherry.
We also discussed the safety and ethics of such genetic
manipulations with parents and professors who stopped by our station.
Pictures of the event can be found at our Flikr Page
Lincoln's Challenge Academy
In accordance to our "hands on" approach in getting directly involved with our community and involving the philosophies of science with local educational facilities, we visited and presented at the Lincoln's ChalleNGe Academy in Rantoul, Illinois (which was only about a half hour drive outside of campus).
As a part of the National Guard Youth ChalleNGe Program, the students were of a high school age demographic. However, the demographic and educational backgrounds has its differences from the standard educational system. Members of our team who had participated in educational scientific demonstrations had never been exposed to environment of a military academy. The scientific demonstrations involved:
- Fluorescent hand lotion to demonstrate the spread of pathogens through common contact with objects and people
- Colouring silly putty and exploring the physical properties of the putty we made
- Demonstrating and explaining what happens when dry ice interacts with soap, how temperature affects physical properites of substances
- Flash freezing everyday items like candy bars and even the silly putty to show how heat energy is transfered
"My visit to those fellow students at the academy will not soon be forgotten. I heard stories, saw faces, and
hopefully made an impression on them. My goal when I went in that building was to shatter any perceptions of
science students and science as “stuffy” and “uptight”. After talking to them between demonstrations, I think I did
that. I wanted to share my belief with them that science and education in general are the most beautiful privileges
we have. In return I feel inspired by them to be a role model and use my talents to help others, wherever I find
myself in the future.”
- Cara Schornak
"The faces seemed familiar, but the atmosphere felt so foreign. It was eye opening to say the least; I feel like the schools most of us on the iGEM team went to pampered us with scientific education focuses. I'm glad we were able to open some eyes too, especially with the demonstrations we did with the liquid nitrogen and dry ice."
- Bob Chen
Synthetic Biology Class
Last year the
UIUC iGEM 2011 team proposed a class in synthetic biology as part of their human practices project.
This fall the first class of BIOE 498 Section TL "Introduction to Syn Bio" met with
Professor Ting Lu to learn about the basics of synthetic biology.
Further Resources
While just beginning research, we as a team tried to understand the
impact synthetic biology has made on the public and what type of public impression has
been made. The result of our research was this compilation of resources, which shows
how popular media has reported on synthetic biology advances. It is an excellent source
for both learning more about synthetic biology and understanding how science relates
to social policy. In our endeavors we also spoke with author Richard Powers on our very own campus who is a colleague and friend of Dr. Gene Robinson, the director of the Institute of Genomic Biology.
Read more at the following websites:
SynBio Presentations
We love sharing our passion for science and synthetic biology! Throughout the year,
we have given interactive presentations to a wide range of audiences, all dedicated to inspiring
future synthetic biology innovations and establishing a trusting relationship between snybio
scientists and the general public.
If you would like to learn more about synthetic biology or
schedule a presentation from the 2012 UIUC iGEM team, please contact Asha Kirchhoff at
kirchho2@illinois.edu
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