Mass Media Outreach

During this summer, the team was invited to present our work to different radio stations, were we talked about our wetlab project, E.cologic, and the human practices projects, specially the Synthetic Biology Tunnel expo. This expo gained attention from the Public Secretary of Education (SEP) and also from two local television channels; these channels made two news reports, respectively.

iGEM UANL_Mty-Mexico in the radio

• 25 August 2012 - 1310 AM, Monterrey, Mexico Canal de la Mujer

This was our first time on the radio. We were on a program directed to a young demographic and we had the opportunity to talk about our wetlab project and also to make a short semblance of our team past project. We also talked about the iGEM CIDEB High School team (CIDEB is a High School under the network of our university). Finally, we made an invitation to the Synthetic Biology Tunnel.

• 1 September 2012 - 98.1 FM Genesis

By far, this time we had a larger outreach than in any other occasion. This station, 98.1 FM Genesis, claims to reach more than 500,000 people in Monterrey metro area. We were on a program focused in ecology and nature conservation. Here we talked less about our past projects and centered on the ongoing ones, both wetlab and human practices. We ended with an invitation to the Synthetic Biology Tunnel.

• 10 September 2012 - 1510AM Canal Radio Nuevo León

The last show we were at was this government station, in a program that is also focused in ecology and nature conservation. We had a smaller audience than in other occasions; however, the talk format was quite different, as the host was an experimented Biologist, who had also two other guests besides us: another highly renowned Biologist and a man working for a recycling company. The two Biologists questioned very incisively our projects and the concept of Synthetic Biology, as they were not familiar with this area. At the end, we made clear what Synthetic Biology is and reached a consensus with the host and other guests, who were mainly concerned on environmental issues.

iGEM UANL_Mty-Mexico on TV

Two of the three main television chains in our city made reports about our human practices activity: the Synthetic Biology Tunnel. The first report was mainly an invitation to our activity; it was made by Televisa and appeared on the news throughout the day. On the other hand, the second one, by TV Azteca, focused on the main event by the Public Secretary of Education of Mexico were we participated; it shows scenes where the Tunnel appears, along with excerpts of the presentations of the authorities from the Secretary.