Team:Strasbourg/Public Engagement
Public Engagement
Our Strategy
An important face of iGEM is to anchor our scientific project within society and think about how it could serve it. Not only do we have to communicate to the general public about our science, but also about synthetic biology in general. The iGEM Strasbourg 2019 team has try to reach as many people as possible by doing so.
On one hand, we have tried to bring synthetic biology to students of any major and level. We therefore organized a coffee-debate at the University of Strasbourg welcoming students to have a drink and speak about synthetic biology. After a short presentation entitled “Synthetic biology: a new way of thinking about living", we opened the debate to the audience to together try to investigate the challenges and limits of synthetic biology.
Moreover, at the end of the day, each occasion that we had to present our project at different events in the university was also an opportunity to introduce people to synthetic biology. It is indeed quite a new subject and even biologists can have a hard time defining it. That is why iGEMers are meant to bring it to professionals as well as to the general public.
On the other hand, in the scientific community and particularly in the iGEM competition, the people involved must act responsibly and consider health and safety as crucial parameters in innovation and research. We think it is also important to raise public awareness of these concepts. We also believe that public education must begin with the education of children. In this context, we decided to carry out a workshop in primary school with 9-10 years old children to allow them to discover the world of microbes and the importance of hygiene.
Some of our members carried out this intervention in elementary school, dealing with microorganisms and hygiene. They animated four workshops: awareness to the presence of microorganisms, differences between bacteria and viruses, antibiotics, and vaccination. They have rendered it accessible, illustrating bacteria by sequins for example. When washing sequins off of their hands, they could get a representation of the bacteria on their hands. Overall, this experience was of great interest to appreciate the knowledge of kids about biology. Before talking about synthetic biology, it is indeed necessary to raise their awareness about microorganisms.
Some of our members carried out this intervention in elementary school, dealing with microorganisms and hygiene. They animated four workshops: awareness to the presence of microorganisms, differences between bacteria and viruses, antibiotics, and vaccination. They have rendered it accessible, illustrating bacteria by sequins for example. When washing sequins off of their hands, they could get a representation of the bacteria on their hands. Overall, this experience was of great interest to appreciate the knowledge of kids about biology. Before talking about synthetic biology, it is indeed necessary to raise their awareness about microorganisms.
More generally, as our project focuses on food allergies, we also wanted to raise public awareness on the subject of allergies.
First, during our "Allergies in the French population" survey, we asked respondents about their knowledge about allergies. Overall, 43% of people do not know how the allergic reaction works and 71% would like to learn more about this subject. We then decided to launch a public awareness campaign on allergies. For this reason we created a "Did you know" week with facts related to allergies and explanations.
Secondly, the education of children is an important concern for us. We asked the children about their knowledge of allergies. Most children do not know how allergy works and would like to learn more. We thus produced and distributed a comic book explaining the allergic reaction and a storybook promoting the right course of action in case of such an event.
Scientific workshops for children
As scientists, we know that prevention is an important part of our job and that it is more effective when it starts at an early age. According to our survey, the majority of the children we questioned don’t know how their body fights against microbes and also, would like to know more about allergies. That’s why in a first time we did an intervention in an elementary school to raise awareness about microbes, hygiene and introduce the concept of the immune system.
Léna, Julianne, Bryan and Lisa went to Rountzenheim Primary School to make scientific workshops for 9-10 year old children on the theme of microorganisms and hygiene. We organized 4 different workshops for them. On the agenda: awareness of the omnipresence of microorganisms, differences between bacteria and viruses, antibiotics, vaccination and handwashing advices.
First workshop: The history of vaccination discovery followed by handwashing
We told the children the story of the discovery of smallpox vaccination by Edward Jenner in 1796. Then they participated in a scenario that traces this discovery: an infection with the vaccinia virus (infectious bovine disease) prevented infection with smallpox, a much more serious human disease. This gave rise to the word vaccination which comes from the Latin word vacca, the cow (vache in french).
We then placed a mixture of glitter and oil on the children's hands. Thus these sequins could only be removed by rubbing hands with water and soap. Water alone had no effect. These flakes were used to represent microbes. Children were therefore able to see that they were spreading everywhere on other people and objects. In addition, they realized that soap washing was the only effective way to get rid of it.
We then placed a mixture of glitter and oil on the children's hands. Thus these sequins could only be removed by rubbing hands with water and soap. Water alone had no effect. These flakes were used to represent microbes. Children were therefore able to see that they were spreading everywhere on other people and objects. In addition, they realized that soap washing was the only effective way to get rid of it.
Second workshop: Bacteria visible on petri dishes
We incubated different agar petri dishes under different conditions: unwashed hands, washed with just water, soap or hydroalcoholic gel were applied to the petri dishes. The children had to guess which box corresponded to which type of handwashing. They therefore saw that bacteria were much less abundant on the petri dishes when hands were washed with soap and hydroalcoholic gel. It also made them realize that rinsing their hands just with water is useless.
We also incubate the petri dishes after their contact with objects such as coins and a mobile phone to show them that bacteria are everywhere and make them aware of hygiene.
Third workshop: Use of antibiotics and commensal bacteria
The objective was to make children aware of the use of antibiotics to fight against bacteria. For this purpose, petri dishes were also used as described above but antibiotics were added to the culture medium. Children were therefore able to see that the bacteria were multiplying much less and event not at all.
Not all bacteria are harmful, some are useful to us. We therefore decided to raise children's awareness of this concept. They thus have to colour on a drawing of the human body the places where they think there is a bacterial flora. They also had to guess its usefulness. They were also sensitized to the fact that the use of antibiotics could destabilize their bacterial flora.
4th workshop : Differences between bacteria and viruses
Through this workshop, children learned about the differences between viruses and bacteria through a distinction of size, shape, and treatment method. For example, we taught them that antibiotics are inefficient on viruses. Different images of viruses and bacteria were shown with clues and the children had to guess what type of microorganism it was. Then they drew their own microbes (virus or bacterium) following the instructions.
Surprisingly, children seemed to have complex notions about biology (such as the notion of "cell"). They learned a lot about the world of germs and the immune system while having fun and learning about hygiene.
This intervention also gave us the opportunity to appear in the local press.
Comic book and story book
Because the education of children is an important concern for us, we also produced and distributed a comic book explaining the allergic reaction and a storybook promoting the right course of action in case of such an event. We think that children are more receptive when scientific concepts are presented in the form of stories.
They were really happy and so were we!
We believe that public education starts with the education of children, which is why we designed a public engagement strategy focused on children. We also interviewed a primary school teacher on our test (see interview in Expert’s View in our Human Practices page)
, on our comic book and our storybook. She gave us a very useful feedback!
For the comic book, she complimented us on the drawing but told us to not deliver our message without giving first the keys to understand it.
"The drawings are well done. You need to adapt the vocabulary a little bit, as it is abstract for the children! From the third grade onwards this comic book would be very interesting.“
"You can't give them the books like that! You have to take the time to explain first or let them read and then do a feedback with them. You always have to use a pedagogical approach.'’
Thanks to teacher’s feedbacks, we modified our comic book and used easier words for children. During the distribution of the comics, we tried to use a pedagogical approach with them and took the time to answer their questions. Her opinion on the book put into light the importance of early awareness and the strength of our public engagement strategy with children.
On the photo (left to right): Lorraine Pinot, Lisa Welker, Yasmine Amrani.
Teacher also commented our storybook, which aims to make children aware of the right attitudes to have when facing an allergic reaction.
"Nice, these are original supports! [Children] have a lack of awareness on the subject, even ourselves as teachers are not sufficiently educated in allergies.“
Café-Débat ‘’Synthetic Biology : A new way to feel alive”
The world of synthetic biology has exploded in the last 20 years. Today we can found synthetic biology in different fields, such as medicine, agriculture and industrial production. Despite the importance of synthetic biology, the nonscientific public steal has a bare knowledge about it. For this reason, we organized an event on the University campus, called “café débat” in April to inform students about this discipline. The goal of “café débat” is to present to the public a subject by discussion. Students from varied fields and study levels were present to learn about “Synthetic biology: a new way of thinking about living ". During this presentation, we showed different synthetic biology application. A real exchange was done between the audience and the iGEM Strasbourg 2019 team to determine the stakes and the limits of synthetic biology. At the same time, as the first iGEM team at Strasbourg University, we present the competition and we showed previous teams projects but also our project. Our project of allergen detection via a "triple hybrid" system gave a good impression on the audience. Also, the questions and remarks have allowed us to have another point of view on our system, it was very enriching. The debate ended with an aperitif.
Discovery of Start-Up Ecosystem
Because of the uniqueness of iGEM competition, many projects are further developed and may give birth at companies. We were curious about the creation of a startup relying on our project and we tried to learn more about this environment.
To meet diverse actors of the startup ecosystem, we were present at the Festival Génération Startup organized by the University of Strasbourg on June 4. It was an extremely rewarding moment for us! We were able to attend several inspiring and motivating Keynote presentations, notably on the importance of being able to bounce back with Visible Patient's CEO Luc Soler, and on artificial intelligence with Guilhaume Leroy-Meline from IBM. We learned how to build a business plan and how to speak in public through workshops. We laughed a lot during Marie-Charlotte Morin's one-woman show, who was able to play codes from the entrepreneurial world and the academic world to introduce us to her delirious startup.
On the photo (left to right): Lorraine Pinot, Lisa Welker, Yasmine Amrani.
This festival also allowed us to meet a lot of people motivated by their project who inspired us as well as people and structures committed who help them to develop their potential. We were, therefore, able to have a lot of advice and contacts and we were able to compare our project with these experts in business support!
The Strasbourg ecosystem is rich in startups and associated actors such as incubators and investors. Some of them benefits from a lab and a working space in the Biotech-Lab of the University of Strasbourg. By working in this environment, we were able to meet a lot of startups, which opened our mind on our project. They all gave us precious advice and their opinion on the startup world and entrepreneurial mindset. It also gave us the opportunity to meet two master students who created a 3D printing startup called Lesax3D. They help startups and companies to design and realize prototypes for new products for example. They contributed widely to our project by helping us to design our detection kit and printing it for us! An huge thanks to them.
Did you know campaign
Among the people we questioned, more than a half of them don’t know the biological principle of allergy and would like to know more about it. To raise awareness on this topic and attract people’s curiosity we produced a “did you know” campaign on our social networks.
Moon Dust (Regolith)
During space travel, the astronauts' immune system is perturbed. Stresses caused by radiation, microgravity, disrupted sleep cycles and isolation can have an impact on the immune system. This can result in an increased risk of allergic reactions.
In 1972, during the Apollo XVII mission, astronaut Harrison Schmitt complained that his nose cartilage was swollen for hours after contact with moon dust. He had an allergic reaction to this one. These symptoms were qualified as "lunar dust hay fever".
Tick bite
The tick bite can be a sensitizer and cause an allergic reaction.
For some people, the bite of certain ticks can also induce a food allergy to red meat! For example, the lone star (present on the east coast of the United States), when biting a person, introduces a small molecule called alpha-gal. It is a sugar found in mammalian meat (except in humans and some primates). The immune system then produces antibodies (IgE) specific to this sugar. After this sensitization step, the ingestion of red meat causes an allergic reaction.
Allergic reaction mechanism
The development of an allergy is divided into 2 phases: an initial phase of sensitization (asymptomatic) and a second phase of so-called allergic reaction (symptomatic).
During the sensitization phase, the individual comes into contact with the allergen for the first time. It is recognized and wrongly considered as a dangerous substance by the immune system. This will lead to the production of allergen-specific antibodies (IgE). These specific antibodies will bind to immune cells found in particular in the skin and mucous membranes.
During the allergic reaction phase, the individual is again exposed to the allergen. This will bind to the antibodies on the cell surface. This fixation leads to the release of histamine and inflammation mediators.
Histamine plays a key role in the allergic reaction. For example, in the nose, histamine causes itching, sneezing and runny nose.
Cross allergy
A cross allergy occurs when a person sensitized to one substance (allergen) reacts to another. This is due to the fact that the 2 allergens recognized by the immune system are similar (although their origin may be very different). A person allergic to pollen can therefore develop a food allergy. For example, people allergic to birch pollen may develop an allergy to apples, peaches, pears and apricots. Surprisingly, a person allergic to latex will often be allergic to kiwi and banana!
Internationalization
Due to the increasing export and import, a much wider range of foodstuffs is available to consumers than before. Consumers are therefore exposed to a much wider range of allergens than before. Sesame, for example, has been available to European consumers for only a few decades. Sesame now accounts for 4.4% of adult food allergies, compared to 0.7% a few years ago. The internationalization of food is one of the many factors that contribute to the increase in the prevalence of allergies.