Team:SUSTech Shenzhen/Public Engagement

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Public Engagement

Overview

Generally speaking, it's challenging for fundamental research groups to carry out a meaningful and project-related public engagement activity. This's because of the difficulty on connecting the social concerns with a theoretical biology problem. Surprisingly, the numerous questions we faced in literature researching and experiments gave us perfect inspiration of creating project outreach and public engagement. Firstly, from the difficulties we faced when modelling the predictive behavior of mammalian cells, we found that the complexity of our cells is also a blind area of public awareness. We realized that popularization of the concept of “complex cell behavior” can efficiently help the public to understand better on how the human body works. Hence, we made an easy-understanding cartoon describing the complex behavior regulation of cells and we uploaded it onto popular social media in China. We also visited high school and gave a lecture about iGEM and the concept of "complex cell behavior". Second, when interviewing professor Ren from our medical school, we discussed with the professor about potential use of synthetic biology method on medical field. Then we decided to introduce our model-based cell behavior control system to docters in Shenzhen Renmin Hospital. We wanted to find if the quantitative methodology in synthetic biology can benefit doctor's treatment to cancer patient.

Scientific Video Popularization

Under the suggestion of Professor Ren Huan's "more publicity and popularization", we consider to use video to do a related popularization. In our daily observation and communication, we found that everyone may know some knowledge about cells, but may be at a loss about the complex environment faced by cell growth. Therefore, we began to prepare our first version of video, and art students were faced with many technical problems and challenges. The first problem is we have to decide the type of our video. Nowadays, video log(vlog) is a popular form of video and recording vlog is pretty easy. So we firstly try to make a vlog as our scientific video. However, when consider the public educational task of our video, We Noticed that vlog is hard to illustrate the complexity of cell internal environment. Finally, we chose to make an animation, because animation will be easier for public to understand. We believe animation is the most effective way to popular science. The second problem came immediately after we decided our video type: drawing an animation is not easy, especially none of us have had experience of making animation. To solve this, we spend a lot of time to learn how to operate animation software—AE and PR. After a long period “polish” our video, we finished the first version of our video.
In the following high school propaganda and hospital research, we also showed our video to students and doctors respectively, and they played a great role and helped us to put forward our opinions. We may not have noticed it at first:he first version of our video is a kind of too academic, so it may be a little hard for public to get fully understand. To make our video more understandable meanwhile keeps the accuracy of our video. We added some comparison in our video.
Later, in correction and modification, we came up with a lot of vivid and lovely examples, such as the cell analogy as a signal tower to receive and forward information, which made our video more understandable.
After repeated revision and proofreading, we put video on bilibili and douyin after the National Day holiday and got the following feedback:

Finally, our scientific animation had a lot of positive feedback. And we think our video is an acceptable scientific video.

Giving lecture in high school

In order to make some of our learning results more effective transformation into the society，We decided to open the door to synthetic biology and the "complex cell behavior" concept in the form of lectures. Before the summer holiday, we went to ShenZhen no.3 senior middle school, sharing a lecture with prospective seniors. First, we introduced iGEM and synthetic biology. Secondly, we introduced our own project, and talked about some extended knowledge on "complex cell concept", brought help to both their study and lives. Interestingly, we played our initial video during the presentation, and got some good feedback from the students' reaction. We will pay more attention to the interest of video in the later production and modification. Such as taking more simple and understandable examples, making the tone of the recording more cadenced and so on. At the end of the lecture, we also answered some their more concerned questions.In a word, both our team members and students gained a lot！

Introduction of our project to medical workers in hospital

In the biotherapy room of tumor radiology department of Shenzhen People's Hospital, after full communication with medical staff, we put forward some ideas on immunotherapy and cell therapy in combination with this iGEM project. The doctors and us both agreed that the current medical institutions should be more open to the new immunotherapy, and actively publicize the advantages and disadvantages of immunotherapy / cell therapy to patients and the society, so as to form a more comprehensive understanding among the public. We also hope that medical institutions and scientific research institutes can accept more social practice groups like iGEM team. Through mutual communication with the social practice team, we can establish links among the society, colleges and medical institutions, enhance mutual understanding, and facilitate the dissemination of popular science knowledge. Most importantly, we found that cancer treatment in hospital often pay all the attention on physilogical healling efficacy while they don't get precise model of the biology question behind them. The doctors were very interested in the quantitative methodology in iGEM projects, and they approved the potential of our system in further medical application.