Team:ITB Indonesia/Synbio for Kids
Synbio for Kids
Kebon Bibit Area, Skhole ITB
Background: At the core, synthetic biology is about imagination. All the technical and scientific aspects of synthetic biology would never be possible without a creative mind with the drive to turn their dreams into reality. We were curious to see just how far we could go with synthetic biology by using just the imagination. So we handed that question to the young scientists of tomorrow, the future pioneers of the scientific world, the kids.
Goals: For this program, we wanted to see if kids from the age of 6 to 13 could understand the basic of synthetic biology if we break it down into three parts. First, to identify a problem you want to solve. Second, to imagine a solution to that problem. And lastly, to design a genetically engineered machine to implement the solution. We also intruduced the concept of microbiology to the kids.
Synbio for Kids was done in collaboration with Skhole ITB, a college community which focuses on education. We went to Kebon Bibit, a rural area near campus and met with the kids there. After introducing ourselves, we asked them what they knew about germs and it turns out they knew a lot. We introduced them to synthetic biology by introducing bacterias, virus and fungi as characters and showed them the examples drawn by participants in the #DrawYourGEMChallenge.
The most exciting part was the final session. Earlier, we asked them “What do you want to be when you grow up?” and each one shouted their answer in high spirits. So we gave them a blank paper with a GEM template and asked them to imagine one that could help them with their dreams. The results were wild and messy. Some had wings, some had tentacles and some even had pants. But for each drawing, there was a story and a reason behind it. “He has eight arms so he could fight the bad germs” one kid said, “He has a bubble in his head so he can be an astronaut” another one shouted. A little silly? Maybe, but isn’t that what it means to be a scientist, to imagine something daring, to have a rationalization for each decision and to bravely tell the world your vision? We applauded them, feeling satisfied seeing them so excited to learn something new.
The kids from Kebon Bibit seemed to understand the basics which we introduced to them and they were always having so much fun doing it. And our questions were answered, imagination is the key to synthetic biology. Hopefully, Synbio for Kids could spark a new interest in them for science and give them the confidence they need to imagine a better world with the most imaginative GEMs.
