Telus Spark Science Centre

Sharing Synthetic Biology: The iGEM Way

This year we partnered with our local science center, Telus Spark, to share and let the general public try their hands at the cool things that can be done with synthetic biology. Telus Spark let us use their public space to let the public try their hand at making art by drawing bacteria with fluorescent markers onto agar plates.

The Experiment

Stocks of bacteria with various colors of fluorescent markers were prepared. These bacteria were then drawn onto agar plates to make pieces of art. The plates contained a antibiotic to ensure the plasmid containing the fluorescent marker was not shed by the bacteria. These plates were then incubated overnight, before being photographed under a UV light and being posted to Telus Spark's facebook page.

Connecting With the Public

Spark has given us the opportunity to share and engage with the general public to demonstrate through hands on activities what biology is and how we can use synthetic biology to solve problems. The science center brings together a huge range people, from young children and their parents, to adults of all ages on their Adults Only Nights.