<divclass="text-block-10">“<em>Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence.“ ~<br>Louis Pasteur<br><br></em>Our education team’s principal goal was “to include more people in shaping, contributing to, or participating in work in synthetic biology by providing new tools, knowledge, and opportunities” to those who don’t have access to it. Knowledge shouldn’t be a privilege, but rather a gift. Our events and workshops were a culmination of our idea of creating a collaborative space where everyone can share ideas, as well as the mixing in a traditional style of teaching. Each event had a purpose, and we aimed to target as many different groups of ages as we could, hopefully giving them some interest in the world of science. Thank you for reading, <strong>and enjoy reading about our education journey in the Boston community.</strong></div>
<divclass="text-block-10">“<em>Science knows no country, because knowledge belongs to humanity, and is the torch which illuminates the world. Science is the highest personification of the nation because that nation will remain the first which carries the furthest the works of thought and intelligence.“ <br>~ Louis Pasteur<br><br></em>Our education team’s principal goal was “to include more people in shaping, contributing to, or participating in work in synthetic biology by providing new tools, knowledge, and opportunities” to those who don’t have access to it. Knowledge shouldn’t be a privilege, but rather a gift. Our events and workshops were a culmination of our idea of creating a collaborative space where everyone can share ideas, as well as the mixing in a traditional style of teaching. Each event had a purpose, and we aimed to target as many different groups of ages as we could, hopefully giving them some interest in the world of science. Thank you for reading, <strong>and enjoy reading about our education journey in the Boston community!</strong></div>
<divclass="text-block-6">To further expand followers’ knowledge about synthetic biology, Education co-leads Ashley Choi and Vidyuth Sathish created a podcast talking about a variety of topics ranging from their group’s project, heparin, to artificial intelligence and its effect on the healthcare industry. Each episode is about 4-7 minutes long, and talks about the situation and zooms out to give the listener the “big picture” and how said topic is influencing that industry. From their very first episode on the 10th of August, 2024, to about a month later in September; this podcast has reached nearly 400 people in our community.<br><br></div>
<h1id="biobuilder"class="heading-42">BIOBUILDER x BOSLAB LECTURE<br></h1>
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<divclass="text-block-6">Education followed up the presentation with the milk protein separation lab, and handed out the protocols to each group. After the students returned to their seats, Michael explained to the group what had happened in the experiment, noting the enzyme in pineapple (bromelain), and how it separated the milk proteins. Afterwards, Nico and Michael walked around the room offering advice on their research projects while Vidyuth created a graph with the students’ data. A few parts of the graph are inconsistent with the desired result; but we can attribute this to human error, as most students conceded that they had run into problems during the experiment. We also adjusted the protocol with feedback from the students and teachers of BioBuilder (also below); and sent a survey for the students to fill out, asking about their thoughts on the experiment and the lecture. After spending about 30 minutes asdareflecting on their ideas, the BOSLab team thanked the group and left.<br><br>Below are the procedures for the lab and the results of the lab data with a photo comparing the solutions of concentration 0.0mg/mL and 0.9mg/mL.<br></div><imgwidth="458"loading="lazy"alt=""src="https://static.igem.wiki/teams/5254/education/educationdata1.png"class="image-9"><imgwidth="591"loading="lazy"alt=""src="https://static.igem.wiki/teams/5254/education/educationdata2.png"class="image-20"><imgwidth="220"loading="lazy"alt=""src="https://static.igem.wiki/teams/5254/education/educationdata3.png"class="image-20"><imgwidth="600"loading="lazy"alt=""src="https://static.igem.wiki/teams/5254/education/educationdata4.jpeg"class="image-20"><imgwidth="548"loading="lazy"alt=""src="https://static.igem.wiki/teams/5254/education/educationdata5.png"class="image-20"><imgwidth="540"loading="lazy"alt=""src="https://static.igem.wiki/teams/5254/education/educationdata6.png"class="image-20">
<h1id="the-art-of-synbio"class="heading-42">THE ART OF SYNBIO: A BOSLAB WORKSHOP<br></h1>
<divclass="text-block-6"><br>To reach younger audiences, BOSLab hosted a workshop centered around synthetic biology; specifically, we wanted children ages 9-12 to learn about what synthetic biology is, how it feels to run experiments while following protocols, and ultimately give them a deeper understanding of science’s influence on the world today. On Wednesday, September 25, 2024; we hosted The Art of Synbio: A BOSLab Workshop. <br><br>The workshop started with an understanding of what DNA was, and how it makes us who we are. Through two quick activities, the Line Up Game and This or That, we were able to get this message across, before starting our Strawberry DNA Extraction Experiment to give the children a sense of what it feels like to follow protocols and conduct experiments. We also gave them the opportunity to make origami DNA double helices if they finished early. Following this, we conducted our final activity: Make Your Own Superhero. This was a competition between two groups to find a solution to 2 hard-to-solve conflicts: oil spills and global warming. The key to this exercise was mixing and matching parts of different objects to create a solution, something commonly done in synthetic biology. Using their collaboration skills to creatively draw up a solution, each group tested their skills in terms of working together to create a masterful product (as shown?). We ended the workshop with a reflective conversation on how the activities corresponded with the real world, and gave out the comics about our heparin project to teach them about a real-world application of synthetic biology in a fun way.<br></div><imgwidth="282"loading="lazy"alt=""src="https://static.igem.wiki/teams/5254/education/educationposter.png"class="image-9"><imgwidth="625"loading="lazy"alt=""src="https://static.igem.wiki/teams/5254/education/educationprocedure.png"class="image-9">
<divclass="text-block-6"><br>To target a college audience, we plan on presenting a 30-45 minute presentation of the design of our heparin project in the next month to give college students insight into the presence of synthetic biology in society with the goal of showing Northeastern students an idea of a real-world problem and how synthetic biology can influence it. <strong>Our goal is NOT to tell people that it is going to save the world</strong>, but it gives them an idea of how much power synthetic biology can have on the world.<br></div>
