This year, our team aimed to target different ages of the group in our community, and tried to bring the knowledge about synthetic biology and trigger their interest. Same as our integrated human practice, we introduced the theory of Participatory Design (PD). We engage people of our community in synthetic biology with the way that suits them best. We listed the things we want to deliver and choose the best approach to design our activities and contents. We thought of what approach is most convenient and attractive for them. Based on the theory of PD, we designed a framework to organize our article. Please see more detail below.
We went all over around our community and contacted them. At each event, we had conversations with the participants about their thoughts on synthetic biology and what they think of our products. We arouse people's curiosity for science and subvert their imagination about synthetic biology.
We made a picture book about the structure and function of a cell and published it with Chinese and English two versions. We brought the book to Chongqing elementary school and held a story session for students on September 5th.
Purpose
The biology education in elementary school is so little that the students even don’t know what cell is. We would like to let the students have basic knowledge about what our bodies built up with. Besides, we would like to let the students think it interesting to learn biology by telling a story with picture books.
Process
The content of our picture book is about what organelles are in a cell and how they function. We compared a cell to a kingdom. As DNA is like a king, RNA is a secretary, ribosomes are factory workers and so on. The story is about how the kingdom works. We introduced how a cell produces proteins, demonstrate cell division, and deal with an infection. As we telling the story of a kingdom, we were also providing students knowledge of a cell.
After the picture book was published, we brought the book to Chongqing elementary school and told the story to the children. We showed vivid pictures to them and introduced the “kingdom”. We also introduced more knowledge about cells. After that, we asked them some questions and encouraged them to tell us what they were curious about. We designed a learning sheet for them to see how well they learn from this activity. The learning sheet includes questions about organelles and space for them to draw creative work.
Feedback
At first, we thought that elementary school students have no idea about cells and human bodies. However, we found them very smart. When we compared organelles to characters, they learned by analogy. They were interactive with us. When we mentioned infection, they could tell us many different kinds of pathogens such as bacteria and viruses. We found out that many of them were eager to ask questions about human bodies and cells. They also wanted to know why we grow tall and get fat. We told them that besides cell divisions, cells will become bigger and keep on dividing. With the learning sheats, we found that the students learned so fast and most of them could answer the questions correctly. Many of them could draw organelles. They used their imagination and drew colorful pictures. Although the pictures they drew weren’t really correct, seeing children have fun and be willing to learn more are our two most important purposes. Besides, we found that the knowledge of biology provided by elementary schools is not enough. Children know only little knowledge in this area until they get into junior high school. We thought it a suitable way to introduce biology to them with picture books. Children could find out the joy in learning biology and gain more knowledge.
Storybook English
Storybook Chinese
Synthetic Biology Workshop
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Synthetic Biology Workshop
High School
Form
We collaborated with Taichung Science Museum and department of biomedical of Chung Shan Medical University, and together held a workshop on January 30th and 31st. There were 98 high school students involved in this workshop.
Purpose
Since synthetic biology plays an important role in this era, we think that it is important to introduce synthetic biology to high school students. We hoped to supplement basic biology with additional knowledge out of school and the feedback from the students could also help us think more about synthetic biology education in Taiwan.
Process
First, we invited professors of Chung Shan Medical University to help the students look through the profound mystery of molecular biology and genetics. There were lectures talking about the current status and the cure of the genetic disease in Taiwan, the dilemma of the gene editing, and the analysis of the genome. Students could not only gain knowledge from the professors passively, but they also asked questions and discuss it with the professors actively.
Second, we conducted experiments to help the students understand synthetic biology deeper. Students performed the experiment of extracting plasmid DNA by themselves. Through the actual operation, students could thoroughly learn the process and the principle of DNA extraction. Also, we used the resources from the internet to introduce genetic codes to students. We introduced the Human Genome Project to students and taught them the function and the effect of specific genes. Each of them has one computer to use as they follow our instruction getting to the website and using the resource to find out the function of the genes. After that, we also give a brief introduction to how scientists analyze the genome of influenza.
Third, we delivered a speech about what synthetic biology is. We compared the difference between synthetic biology and genetic engineering and told them that genetic engineering is just the editing of DNA, while synthetic biology is the modularization of the DNA component. We gave some examples for both of them and emphasized that many ideas, which may sometimes seem irrelevant, could be introduced to synthetic biology. Besides, we analyzed the sociological, environmental, and medical effects of synthetic biology to help the students know more about the technology and how it affects our lives. After that, we introduced rapid influenza diagnostic tests. Also, we introduced "SELEX" to students by drawing an analogy and displaying easy-to-understand pictures.
Finally, we play games with students to help them learn in a more active atmosphere. We separated them into groups and let them discuss with each other and compete with other groups. One of the games was "Fast Answer Race". We showed some questions about the topic we had talked about. The students had to discuss with each other and chose the best answer. The faster they answered the question, the more score they would get. Another game was "Guess What It Is". Each group would choose one of the students to come up to the stage. He or she would get a card with a word related to synthetic biology. They could not tell the words we earmarked. Every group guessed what word was on the card, and the more words they guessed the higher the score they would get.
Feedback
After the workshop, we asked some students about how much they had learned. They realized what actually synthetic biology is and that synthetic biology can have many possibilities of development. The students were full of curiosity. After each lecture, many students lined up and waited to ask questions. Although they couldn't understand all of the content of the lectures, they still tried their best to figure out the point of each lecture and came to us or the professors to discuss it with us. During the experiment, they were curious about all of the theories of the procedure. They searched for the information on the Internet and shared it with each other. They were very excited about the experiment of extracting plasmid DNA. It was the first time they saw the true colors of DNA.
The games we designed was one of the most important section which livened up the whole atmosphere. At first, the classroom was very quiet and everyone was just sitting in their seats and staring at the book or their smartphone. During the games, we gathered them together and helped them discussed what they had learned. They had to find out the answer to the question we gave out, and they had to cooperate with each other to accomplish the missions. We found out that the students could learn more through these games because they could express their opinions more comfortably and gained knowledge from each other. Most of the students haven't had any lectures like this. This synthetic biology workshop didn't give too much unnecessary knowledge but instill information through games and interaction with one another.
The biology lessons in high school seldom mention synthetic biology, and this workshop could help students learned what they haven't been taught at school. Moreover, they could learn in a more entertaining way and express their opinion in a more open atmosphere. Through this workshop, we found that synthetic biology education is not sufficient to satisfy the students' curiosity. We hope that this workshop can raise the awareness of the insufficient of this part. Last but not least, we hope that the two-day workshop will stimulate students' interest in synthetic biology, and will have a lasting effect.
Synthetic Biology Lecture
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Synthetic Biology Lecture
University
Form
We held a lecture about synthetic biology on June 4th at Chung Shan Medical University. There were about 40 students attended.
Purpose
Encouraged by the professors we met when we set up a booth at Chung Shan Medical University, we thought that it was important to let the students in our school know more about synthetic biology.
Process
First, we talked about what synthetic biology is and introduced the applications of synthetic biology nowadays. We then went deep into the issue of the advantages and disadvantages of them. After that, we separated students into groups and conducted "PBL", which is Problem-Based Learning. We set up the theme "The pros and cons of genetic engineering" for them. Each of the students had to express their opinions first and discussed it with each other. After 40 minutes of discussions, they summarized their opinions and shared them with other groups.
Feedback
We thought that letting the students discuss through PBL could help them not just gain knowledge from us but also think by themselves. Through discussing with their groups, we found that different students had very different opinions. Some of them proposed ethic issues and doubted the adjustability of the application of genetic engineering. They took the gene-editing twins in China for reference. They thought that many uncertain risks still exist in gene editing. If we can edit a human being's genes, it might cause inequalities. They proposed many lines of reasoning to support their opinions. Others said there were still many advantages. They said by genetic-engineering, the grain could be produced more efficiently. Also, many diseases could be defeated by the technique in the future. Both sides listed out the pros and cons and had a fierce argument. They found it hard to balance both sides. Not only did the attendee learn a lot from this lecture, but we also got the chance to dig into these questions and gained information from them.
Scientific Booth
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Scientific Booth
Chung Shan Medical University Hospital
Form
Chung Shan Medical University is the school most of our team members study in. We set up a booth in our school from May 20th to 23rd
Purpose
As a medical school, few clubs or activities related to science or biology was held in our school. We thought that it was vital to let the students know more about genetic engineering and synthetic biology.
Process
We conducted some small activities and interact with the students. First, we prepared three different topics in the article-- influenza, SELEX and aptamer, and synthetic biology. We draw some four-panel comics to help the students understand those topics. We explained the article to the students and asked them some questions. Most of the students hadn't heard of the contents of the articles before. Despite the time-limited, students thought that they had learned much from it. Also, they would like to attend more activities like this and read this kind of article.
Second, to make the booth more entertaining we had a craft tutorial "crafting pipe cleaner phage". We taught students how to use pipe cleaners to make phages. While making phages, we taught them knowledge about phage. We gave a brief introduction to the structure of the phage by demonstrating the finished product. Then we introduced the function, how they reproduce, and the application of phages. Although the craft tutorial needed much time, it was surprising that many students stopped by our booth and joined us. They thought the crafting pipe cleaner phage is adorable and could help them truly understand how phages look like, which is quite different from the ones they saw in the textbook.
Third, we sold "Petri plate jelly". It was jelly on the Petri plate. If someone bought the jelly, we would teach them what E-Coli is and how it works. We sold out one hundred Petri plate jelly, and more than one hundred people who were curious about our Petri plate jelly stopped by our booth.
Feedback
In order to evaluate the effectiveness of raising this activity, we created a google form for the students to fill out. Most of the students thought that our booth had increased their knowledge. Besides, they also thought that through the interactive way such us making phages, helped them understand what phages really look like and they were willing to dig into this knowledge. While we were introducing that aptamer is to the students, we found out that many of them were interested in it. They asked questions, such as how people conduct the experiment, what the applications are for aptamer. We explained to them and invited them to come to our laboratory to see what exactly we were doing. Moreover, during the time we set up the booth, not only many students but also professors and doctors stopped by our booth and discussed it with us. They were attracted by us because they hadn't seen any kind of booth in our school like this before. Some of them asked us what we were doing and what our goal was. They encouraged us to promote more scientific activities in school and out of school. They also discussed our research and the detail of our experiment with us. When a doctor heard that we wanted to applicate aptamer to rapid diagnostic tests or even more, he said that he always saw many patients waiting for the result of rapid diagnostic tests and he expected our research could really benefit the patients. One of the professors was interested in aptamers, he said that there are more and more papers studying SELEX and aptamer. He was surprised that young students like us were interested in doing this kind of research. He shared some papers about aptamer with us. He said that although he hadn't done any experiment about aptamer, he thought that our research is worth encouraging. Through this activity, we raised awareness about the issue that there are few scientific activities in our school. Moreover, we received many supports and encouragement from not only students but also doctors and professors. This experience was precious for us.
Our team submitted an article about "Selex" and "aptamer" to PanSci and PanRead on May 9th.
Purpose
Nowadays, the internet has almost replaced books to become the most important way where people gain knowledge and news. In order to make the public learn more about the field of science, we think it an effective way to spread knowledge through the internet.
Process
"PanSci" is one of the most famous science websites in Taiwan, providing people with scientific knowledge in words easy to understand. There are articles from many professional fields. Students can submit articles with scientific basis references. Besides the websites, there is also an app called "PanRead" which gathers articles from not only PanSci but also other websites such as "NPOs". These articles include scientific and sociological knowledge. People can gain knowledge more convenient.
In our article, we tried to break the myths about DNA and RNA people usually have. Most people think that DNA and RNA are just the genetic codes that play the role in transcription and translation. However, few people know that DNA and RNA can act like an antibody that can precisely bind to the targets. We showed pictures to tell people that different sequences of DNA and RNA can have different structures, which is also similar to protein. These are called "aptamer". We compared the difference between aptamer and antibody. The aptamer is more stable, cheaper, and can be produced in a shorter time. After that, we introduced "SELEX", which can filter the most suitable aptamer for the target. We demonstrated the procedures through pictures and humored words.
There are more and more researches studying aptamer, and more and more medical treatments apply this technic. People tend to doubt new concepts. In the future, when more medical treatments which apply aptamer become better than traditional ones, people may remain conservative and refuse to believe in new products if they don't understand them. It is vital we arouse public attention to technology.
Feedback
During the communication with the editor of PanSci, there are some interesting things worth mentioned. After the first time we submitted our article, the editor edited it and sent it back to us. We found that the title of the article had been changed to "The searching tool in the cells--Aptamer, being able to replace antibody". However, we had different opinions about the title. We thought that an aptamer is an artificial product that does not exist in cells, while the editor didn't agree with our opinion. The editor said, "I mean that the aptamer can act as a searching tool in a limited range of the organism." The editor changed the title to "Conducting the searching work in the cells--Aptamer, being able to replace antibody." We cited a review paper published in 2008 about aptamer and explained to the editor that although aptamer can recognize and combine with some DNAs, it is an artificial product produced in the laboratory and it doesn't exist in nature. We suggested that the title shouldn't involve the word "cell". However, the editor cited two papers published in 2003 and 2006 and said these two papers had mentioned that aptamers exist in nature. We found out we had neglected that aptamers exist in nature, and we also found other papers supporting the fact. It was precious experience that we learned more through the discussion with the editor. We realized that we can't just see things from one side but have to see the thing more thoroughly. Besides, many of our friends were surprised to see our article being published on PanSci.
Street Interview
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Street Interview
Form
We conducted a street interview at Yizhong Street, where is always crowded with people on August 23rd.
Purpose
Our team would like to know how well the public knows about influenza. After each question, we would briefly explain it and introduce related information to people. Moreover, we wanted to know what the public think of our project.
Process
Here are the sample questions we asked during the street interview:
Do you know what influenza is?
Do you know the differences between influenza and general cough?
Have you ever had flu before?
Do you remember how the doctor diagnosed influenza last time when you got flu?
Did you wait for the result of the rapid influenza diagnostic test for a long time?
Have you ever gotten an influenza vaccine?
What do you think about our project (after explaining)?
We randomly chose some passersby and asked them questions above. We interviewed high school students, young men, parents with children and so on. During the interview, we also told them some health information about influenza. After then, we made a video and you can see it below:
Feedback
After the street interview, we found that most of the people knew what influenza is and they had heard it through the news. However, only some people can distinguish the differences between influenza and general cough. Some of them said they had been infected by influenza before and they had been waiting for the result of the rapid influenza diagnostic test for a long time. After we explained our project, some of them said it could help them save time, the other said it would help the doctor to diagnose our disease. Most of them thought our product worth expecting. Through this interview, we not only provided people health information about influenza but also understood what the public really cared about and what they thought about our project.
Sharing Session
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Sharing Session
Form
Our team held an activity combined sharing sessions and health education at Gardens of Girl in Taichung(台中女兒館) on August 23rd.
Purpose
We found that there were few scientific activities held for the public in our city. Besides, the health education lectures raised by the government are too dull to attract people. Because of these two reasons, we would like to hold an activity that could involve biological knowledge and health education about influenza.
Process
We introduced what influenza is and what consequence it might bring while not being controlled well. We talked about three types of influenza, how influenza spreads, and how to prevent influenza such as washing hands and wearing masks. We introduced the rapid influenza diagnostic test used nowadays, which detects influenza viruses based on antibodies. We then mentioned our research and drew an analogy between aptamer and toy brick. The process that we used SELEX to find a suitable aptamer was as finding a suitable toy brick in many different shapes. After that, we used "Kahoot" to play games with the attenders. The faster they answered the questions the higher grade they would get.
We set questions as below:
Which is not the common symptom between influenza and general cold?
Influenza can happen at any time. However, which season is the epidemic season of influenza?
Which is not the subtype of influenza, A, B, C, or D?
Which subtype didn't cause pandemic between human being in recent years, H1N1, H5N1, H3N2, or type B influenza?
Which group of people is not at the high risk of severe complicated influenza, the elderly, children, patients with immune insufficiency, or young men?
Which is the most effective way to prevent influenza, doing sports regularly, vitamin supplements, vaccination, or washing hands?
Which one is correct? 1) Influenza vaccine includes three subtypes of influenza virus which are most prevalent in recent years. 2) People who got a vaccination would definitely not be infected by influenza. 3) Pregnant women are not recommended to get a vaccination. 4) Breastfeeding women are not recommended to get vaccination.
Which kind of person is not recommended to get a vaccination? 1) A person who is allergic to egg. 2) A person who is allergic to dust mite. 3) A person who is allergic to seafood. 4) A person who is allergic to the component of the influenza vaccine.
Which duration is recommended for getting a vaccination, every season, half a year, one year, or three years?
If infected by influenza, when is the best dosing time, in 8 hours, in 12 hours, in 24 hours, in 48 hours?
Which one is the name of the medicine for influenza, Tamiflu, Penicillin, Prednisolone, Viagra?
We tried to break the myths of influenza and build up correct conception. Moreover, we reached our goal to tell the public about some information related to them.
Feedback
There were two kinds of people attending our activity, some were interested in the scientific part, and some wanted to get some health information. They all liked the game we played. We found that most of the people were not able to answer half of the questions. After each question, we explained and gave detailed information. One of the attenders said that she had heard this kind of information on television news before but she didn't remember or sometimes even didn't know what the information means. Most attendees told us that this game was interesting and full of useful knowledge. They admitted that although the government provides this kind of information often, they seldom reached out to more information by themselves. Through the interactive way of health education, the attenders could absorb knowledge effectively. Furthermore, we found that the public doesn't have sufficient information about influenza. With the success of this activity as an initiation, it is expected that more attractive health education activities will be held.
Exhibition
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Exhibition
Form
Our team held an exhibition in Gardens of Girl in Taichung(台中女兒館) from August to November.
Purpose
In order to let the public know more about synthetic biology and to help them gain knowledge about aptamer, we set up an exhibition in Gardens of Girl in Taichung.
Process
We were fortunate to get the chance to set up an exhibition in Gardens of Girl in Taichung. Gardens of Girl is a governmental institution, which provided us a wonderful place to accomplish our plan. We demonstrated a scientific poster about our research. The contents of the poster were written in Chinese, which helps the public understand it. Besides words, we used images to explain the procedure of our experiment. We also made a film about what influenza is and how we conducted our experiment. The film first mentioned that influenza could have a serious effect on human beings. Then it talked about our solution, introducing aptamers, and the procedure of conducting SELEX. We had a tablet playing the film we made as an exhibit for the passersby to learn more through the film. We placed some phages made by crafting pipe cleaners with instruction manuals on the table. Everyone is free to take those crafting pipe cleaners and make phages by themselves. Besides the phages, there was a four-panel comic introducing what phage is and the structure of phage. There were photos of us showing us doing experiments, to let the public understand how we conducted SELEX in the laboratory. Moreover, we sorted out the contents of the interview with professors and institutions, picked out the most relevant parts to the public and demonstrated the information. We also placed a picture book about cells on the table. Usually, many kids playing around in the Gardens of Girl, we hoped that the picture book could help the children gain knowledge about cells at an early age. We left a message board so that the public can express their opinions to us. We also encouraged them to contact us if they want to get more information. We arranged some team members to stand by the exhibition to introduce to the public every week.
Feedback
At the same time, there were many different kinds of exhibitions in the Garden of Girls. However, the administrative staff of the Garden of Girls said that there wasn't any team arranging exhibitions about biology before. They thought that it was a valuable chance for the public to learn more about this field. Once there was a passerby who was interested in our exhibition. She looked at the scientific poster and asked us what aptamer is. We not only explained to her what aptamer is but also told her how to conduct the experiment. She was encouraged by us. She said she was about to graduate from high school and become a medical student, and she was interested in doing experiments. She would like to read more papers about the aptamer and discussed it with us next time. It was a special experience to meet a student who was encouraged by us and decided to learn more. More than that, we received many supporting words from the public written on our message board. There was a message about someone shared his or her terrible experience of waiting for the result of the rapid influenza diagnostic test. He or she wrote that our achievement was worth expecting. Many other messages were people said they thought our exhibition was interesting. The exhibition was worthwhile while not only the public could gain more knowledge but also our team could gain feedback from them.
Participatory Design is an emerging design practice which involves different non-designers in various co-design activities throughout the process, to help ensure that the designed product/service meets their needs.
In participatory design members of the wider community are also recognized as stakeholders which are able to impact the project. The extent of their involvement can range from being passively informed of a project’s development, to actively sharing their opinions in decision making.
What
Design for humans is often looked up as a standard by many designers, but how is it for people? Market research, focus group, usability testing, and other research methods are useful but sometimes they don't let us know the really important feedback. Sometimes users don't honestly say their ideas because of courtesy. More often users don't really know what they want or what they need, or the emotional level of them is often not quantifiable.
Design with Human is a part of participatory design, bringing users into the design process, in order to understand the psychological or social aspects of the user's ideas or use in the early stages of product development. Use Cases to work together to design a solution.
Why
Designers are not users, neither are product managers nor engineers. In the process of current software development, software often involves or affects various user cultural, political or psychological factors. The knowledge that a product development team needs is not just the product development team itself, but the idea of different aspects and different fields to inspire the best solution.
Imagine that in the process of traditional product design, a product team that lacks a real understanding of the user's needs is given a goal to solve a problem, the design made at this time may not really solve the user's problem, or become a mediocre product. Usually, it becomes Product Manager Driven instead of User-Driven .
The participatory design gives users an opportunity to participate in the design. However, it is important to know that the users involved in the design do not influence the final product development decisions. Also, they do not have the professional knowledge as the product development team to understand the operation and execution of the entire product.
How
Participatory design is used in various design fields, include industrial design, architectural design, software design, and etc. In fact, there is not a specific way to make a participatory research session, that is, the simpler the better.
Back to our team, in order to expand our influences and to make sure all our human practice activities reach their maximum efficiencies and values, we 1) evaluate who our potential stakeholders are and make sure they participated in our project design, inspiring product modifies to made final product better-fit user’s needs. 2) took the research of Sanders, E. B.-N., Brandt, E., & Binder, T. (2010). “A framework for organizing the tools and techniques of participatory design.” as a reference and developed a systematic structure to help us designing activities for human practice and public engagement, it includes three key points:
Applying with an appropriate Form
Adhering to core principle or Purpose
Designing a suitable Process
Learing from Feedbacks
Furthermore, it involved stakeholders from different aspects of our product. Through this systematic structure, we can not only programmatically arrange our activities but also examine the effectiveness of them. We introduced it to our human practice even public engagement. We hope that aside from us, future iGEM teams can also set up their own concept on this foundation.
Form
It describes the conducted time, the kind of the activity that is taking place and how it is been held. For different purpose, there will have different places and ways which is most suitable for the activities. Participatory design sessions can be conducted with either individuals or with people in groups. We classified the forms of our activities into individual, one-to-one interviews, and groups.
Purpose
According to the designation of PD, we came up with three main principle that may be introduced to different activities:
to stimulate participants interest,
to let the participants gain information
to discuss with the participants and let them generate ideas.
Moreover, we will set up a goal for each activity that might either benefit our study or can affect the public.
Process
It includes the detail of the designation of the activities or the document of what the participants do or said without judgment.
Feedbacks
It is an important part for us to realize what the participants think about. We collected the opinions, suggestions, and even encouragements from the participants which is precious to our study and even other sides of our personal abilities. We think that each activity can affect both conductors and participants. We also recorded our thoughts and what we gain from the activities.
References
Sanders, E. B.-N., Brandt, E., & Binder, T. (2010).
A framework for organizing the tools and techniques of participatory design. PDC '10 Proceedings of the 11th Biennial Participatory Design Conference, Pages 195-198
https://dl.acm.org/citation.cfm?id=1900476
https://sci-hub.tw/10.1145/1900441.1900476
Participate in Design (P!D) http://participateindesign.org/about/organisation
Liz Sanders, An Evolving Map of Design Practice and Design Research, 2008
Ines Anić, Participatory Design: What is it, and what makes it so great?, 2015
Public Engagement
