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Team:St Andrews/Public-outreach
From 2012.igem.org
Get Involved!
Synthetic Biology is too exciting - we can't keep it to ourselves. We want you to get involved!
We had a stall at the Scottish National Science and Engineering Week and participated in our University's 600th anniversary event Food For Thought. In May, we delivered a well received TEDx talk. We're also active online on Twitter and Facebook, where we hold little online debates and give you a peek into synthetic biology research!
NSEW Science Discovery Day
National Science and Engineering Week (NSEW) exploded in Fife with a regional "Science Discovery Day". Team St Andrews worked to convey fundamental concepts in Genetic Engineering and Synthetic Biology in new and exciting ways. The interactive "Codon Game", 3 - Dimensional Visualizations of DNA and DNA polymerase and the display "E. Coli: Under the Microscope" were well received. Children and adults alike were fascinated when DNA was extracted from bananas using everyday kitchen equipment.
Festival's website
TEDxUniversityofStAndrews
Team member Josi presents "Spider Mutants and Bioterrorism - an Overview of Synthetic Biology as an Emerging Scientific Discipline" to a “TEDx” audience of over eighty scientists and non - scientists akin. Josi views the field as "ground breaking" and by the end of her talk, members of her audience too admit surprise at the wealth of possibilities that this new research area makes available. There is excitement at the tantalizing proximity of reality of these ideas.
Events website
TEDx profile
Feasting at "Food for Thought"
Superhero or Supervillain?
Who would you be?
Who will you be?
Synthetic Biology has already made possible the creation of the world's first "Spider Goat" (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/science-environment-16554357); how long will it be before Spider-Man steps out from our books and into our everyday lives?
Team St Andrews spoke to crowds at University of St Andrews' "Food for Thought" 600th Anniversary Event on Sunday. Demonstrating the extraction of DNA from bananas; providing a background to the processes involved in Synthetic Biology lab work and encouraging children and adults alike to "Create [their] Own Superhero", the Team emphasised the imminence and relevance of this field of research, as well as the far reaching possibilities.
Media
- [25.07.2012] Streets of London: paved with platinum? – University of St Andrews Website
- [25.07.2012] Študij in raziskovanje v tujini: trdo delo, a tudi dovolj družabnosti – Delo
Online Debate
Engage in debate and learn more about our progress - "Follow" Team St Andrews on Twitter and "Like" our Facebook page!