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	* Could it be that the product is more toxic than the substrate? How do you ensure that its not harmful?		* Could it be that the product is more toxic than the substrate? How do you ensure that its not harmful?
	* Is it an ethical idea? Are there negative effects on the environment?		* Is it an ethical idea? Are there negative effects on the environment?
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Revision as of 08:10, 21 August 2012

Student Academy

This year our iGEM team collaborated with the first CeBiTec pupils academy for synthetic biology and biotechnology . The weeklong summer school (9th to 13th of July) was arranged by the Center for Biotechnology (CeBiTec) of the University of Bielefeld in cooperation with the Familie-Osthushenrich-Stiftung from Gütersloh and the district government Detmold. It was addressed to talented pupils of the 11th and 12th grade in order to give them an understanding of synthetic biology as well as biotechnology. On the basis of the knowledge they already have achieved by biology courses, they listened to presentations by noted scientist, made their own experiments and visited a company for biotechnology.

Our iGEM team participated in the organization of the summer school. We planned two experiments for the pupils in which they could learn basics of synthetic biology and biotechnology, as well as correct and safe behavior and work in a laboratory. The first day we presented the background of the experiments as an introduction to the planned experiments, which took place on the following two afternoons.

In the first experiment the pupils isolated a plasmid (pSB1C3 with BBa_I13521) out of a bacterial cell culture. The samples were analyzed by the nanodrop to gain information about the amount of DNA and their purity. Then in a second experiment they performed the opposite step, the transformation of a plasmid-mix. This plasmid-mix consisted of two plasmids with different fluorescent proteins (either RFP or GFP) and antibiotic resistances (either ampicillin or kanamycine). Therefore we used the plasmids pSB1C3 with BBa_I13521 and pMTE cp46 His. The transformation sample was plated on agar plates without antibiotics and with either ampicillin or kanamycine. The pupils did not know anything about the composition of the plasmids, so the next day they could analyze the plates and link the fluorescent protein to the antibiotic resistance. Furthermore we discussed the effect of non-fluorescing colonies on agar plates without antibiotics. All the results were discussed with the groups and one of them had to prepare a power point presentation with our help to present the whole experiment in front of all participants.

Furthermore we held another presentation about the iGEM competition, the projects of the last two years as well as about our project. Especially our project seemed to be very interesting to the pupils, because it is current and they already talked about the problem in school. We also prepared a barbecue for them to get to know us, to discuss the topic of synthetic biology, biotechnology and our project, as well as to answer all the questions they had (some of them are listed below). The discussions were really inspiring…

• What is synthetic biology and what is new?
• Is this the only possibility to purify the water?
• How will the filter look like and how often do you have to change it?
• Why do you use a cell-free approach?

• How much does it cost? Are the enzymes (the laccases) expensive? How many laccases are needed to clean the water?
• Are you sure that they will be active in a wastewater treatment plant?
• Which toxic substances could be degraded?
• Could it be that the product is more toxic than the substrate? How do you ensure that its not harmful?
• Is it an ethical idea? Are there negative effects on the environment?

Further information watch this [http://www.cebitec.uni-bielefeld.de/images/downloads/flyer_schuelerakademie.pdf flyer] (german).