Team:Ecuador/Education
<!DOCTYPE html>
Integrated Human Practices
Communication
Education & Public Engagement
Inclusivity
Sustainable Development Impact
Entrepreneurship
SCIENCE OUTREACH
IN LOW-INCOME INDIGENOUS COMMUNITIES
Science outreach in the Amazonian Community Asoawakkuna
The objectives of education and public participation focused on scientific dissemination based on synthetic biology. To fulfill the commitment to share the project and its rationale, we developed educational activities in indigenous communities in Ecuador whose learning and teaching resources are limited.
We visited the community of Muyuna in the Ecuadorian Amazon located in the city of Tena, where we worked with more than 40 children between 5 to 12 years old in recreational activities of biology, natural sciences, genetics, synthetic biology and our project. We have a total of 13 activities developed as skill games and explanatory lectures in order to facilitate the understanding of the topics.
DAY 1
1. Integration games: The objective of this activity was introduce the children to biology and genetics. The children learned about DNA and the origin of genetics through the game "Gregor Mendel says", as well as understanding DNA as a gene carrier.
2. Puppet shows: This explaining the life of Alexander Fleming and the discovery of the first antibiotic. This event allowed communicating to the children about the benefit that certain microorganisms can have to inhibit unwanted pathogens and turn them into machines for the production of substances of interest.
3. Science Gymkhana: This was the largest activity. It consisted of a series of skill tests in which the children formed teams and competed against each other. Each team was named after learned topics such as "DNA", "virus", "bacteria", "cell", among others.
The Gymkana consisted of 5 games, the first one was based on the general functioning of synthetic biology, presented as a way of "building parts" to form elements of interest within microorganisms; in this game the children slid down a slide until they reached a puzzle, where they had to assemble their own bacteria. Another game consisted of asking questions about the puppet play and biology basics; teams had to answer the questions quickly to beat their opponent and avoid being smeared with cream and cake.
DAY 2
4. DNA paintings: It began with a lot of encouragement from the children, as they were eagerly awaiting the arrival of iGEM Ecuador to continue learning and playing. We started the day painting faces on representative figures of Synthetic Biology, such as DNA, bacteria and viruses. Afterwards, we started the memory game in which the children practiced their mental ability to find the pair of scientific figures present in the booklet
5. Puppet shows “The arrival of Agrobactory 593”: We represented the iGEM Ecuador 2021 project with the main characters of our project such as E.coli, Fusarium oxysporum and Ecuadorian farmers. The objective of this activity was to familiarize the children with terms such as DNA, E.coli, Fusarium and above all, to make them understand our project in an easy way.
We had positive results with the children in the question section, as the answers were immediate. Here are some examples:
Name of the main character and what did she do? A: E.coli and she made the remedy for the fungus. Who was and what did the villain of the play do? A: A fungus and he destroyed the farmers' crops. What are the people who do research in the laboratory in search of solutions called? A: Scientists
6. Science Dishes: The children ran with a dish of water. When they reached the finish line, they had to answer a science question from the instructor before pouring the water.
Thanks from Gladys Atacapy, representative of the Asoawakkuna community.
She told us that it was the first time in the community that a group of university students had carried out this type of activity for the children. At the same time, they were saddened by our departure, but at the same time grateful and hopeful for our return to learn and have fun at the same time.
As a team, we were also enriched by this experience, as we learned and lived a little of their life in the Amazon. They taught us how to swim in the strong currents of the river, the importance of nature, and the value of the simple things in life.
Undoubtedly one of the best experiences of our lives.
Science outreach in the Comunidad Educativa Nazacota Puento, Ibarra, Ecuador
The objective of our work is to bring knowledge to rural areas and difficult access by creating sympathy and interest in scientific careers for teenagers who are about to complete their secondary studies, as well as the dissemination of synthetic biology through our project which solves a local problem with which they can simply empathize and understand.
Students and teachers at the last levels were the audience of our first exhibition in which apart from publicizing our project, and the motivations of iGEM Ecuador, as well as an introduction on what Biotechnology and Synthetic Biology is.
At the end of the general exposition, we go into classrooms and rotate in three different courses in orden to continue with the workshops:
1. Digestive Enzymes workshop: With an exercise with scissors and paper, young people learned about the foundations of molecular biology and how to use these tools in research.
2. DNA Extraction Workshop: Using strawberries, soap, alcohol and cooking salt, we taught how homemade extract the DNA from a fruit.
3.Bacterial growing workshop: A workshop where we view with young fluorescent bacteria under a portable transiluminator built by our team, while in synchronized manner the young people made their own bacterial crops.
To close our day, we wanted to motivate the children to never stop learning, to fight for their goals and to never stop their scientific curiosity, with a motivational talk, where topics such as leadership, values and the importance of education were discussed.
To reach these places opens our thought and makes us reflect that we can bring knowledge and passion for science to every corner of our country
IN SCHOOLS, UNIVERSITIES AND INSTITUTES
Science camp
We taught children between 12-15 years old how to extract DNA from strawberries at home, explaining to them during the process the scientific basis of each step of the experiment. They all adapted to the materials they had at home and with the help of their parents, they were able to obtain the DNA from the fruit. At the end, each one showed their results and a discussion was generated about the importance of DNA for the existence of living beings.
Synthetic Biology webinar
We gave online lectures to students of careers related to Biotechnology at the Universidad Técnica del Norte, in Ibarra, Ecuador. We talked about synthetic biology, micro-RNA mechanisms, iGEM projects that applied micro RNA and Agrobactory 593.
We also talked to third semester students of the Technical Institute of Animal Production, who were provided with theoretical tools for the diagnosis of diseases in the field, silage improvement and alternatives to chemical fertilizers, all through the application of Synthetic Biology.
SCIENCE ART CONVERSATORY
Together with SciArt LATAM, we developed a series of free webinars on Zoom platform and broadcast on the official Facebook pages. The webinars Art and Science: Converging Worlds aimed to show how different types of art can merge with science. There were talks from different experts in photography, illustration and other forms of art expression, who found a way or technique to disseminate and appreciate topics that are often difficult to understand.
SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY AT THE UNIVERSITY
SUBJECT "SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY" TAUGHT BY PI FRANCISCO FLORES
In 2016, we created the iGEM Ecuador team focused on the development of synthetic biology and participation within the international iGEM competition. By 2018 we achieved the silver medal award in the competition which allowed us to focus on the progress of science within the country. We started the work within the university, in 2019 the authorities of the institution created a commission for the modification of the curriculum of the Biotechnology Engineering career, which proposed the implementation of the subject of Synthetic Biology within the classrooms, observing the precedent of the iGEM Ecuador team and its success in the competition. The subject reaches the students by 2020 in the province of Santo Domingo - Ecuador and over time, its content has been improved based on knowledge about genetic manipulation, bioinformatics, CRISPR/Cas, cloning techniques, assembly, etc.
FOUNDATION OF THE SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY CLUB
The Synthetic Biology Club of the “Universidad de las Fuerzas Armadas ESPE” originates with the idea of continuing to develop synthetic biology in the country and participating in the international iGEM competition. We formed the club since 2018 but its legalization within the university was achieved in 2020. We currently have 43 members of the Biotechnology Engineering career from second semester to graduates, organized through a directive that allows to improve communication between members and generate a space dedicated to discussion and research in the field of synthetic biology.
The foundation of the Synthetic Biology Club "SynBio ESPE" allowed incoming students to obtain innovative tools about biology and to use biological parts in order to generate a useful product for society. In addition, we are in search of support from the University authorities, which is facilitated for legalized clubs within the facilities.
Internship
In addition to the members of our team, we also had the help of some external collaborators who were helping us with the purpose of learning from us about the world of synthetic biology. Among the activities that they were developing in the different commissions we have:
- Human internships: Helping in the search for advisors for our project. They also focused on finding routes to import biological material for participation in the Global Policy Hackaton.
- Wiki: Assist in the development and design of our team wiki.
- Dry Lab: Assist in sourcing parts for some assemblies.
- Wet Lab: Learning what the project was about and helping in the management of the lab. They also learned bacterial culture and transformation techniques, plasmid extraction, enzymatic digestion, DNA purification from gels, among other techniques.
- Education: Preparing content for the different talks given and helping in the preparation of the Gymkana activities. They were also in charge of developing the children's story: "The Adventures of E. coli and its shield", in collaboration with the iGEM-UNALM team.
Thanks to all the interns for your support!
Founding of the iGEM Biotech Ec Team
iGEM Biotech EC is a new Ecuadorian team that is participating in the iGEM Design League 2021 competition. It was born from a group of students from the University of the Armed Forces and Yachay-Tech University who are characterized by also being a team that loves synthetic biology and biotechnology. Their project is based on the development of a paper-based detection test for Babesia bovis using the toehold switch technique. We as a team have been promoting and helping the iGEM Biotech EC team with advice from the experience of having previously participated in this type of competitions. We were also working in collaboration with this team to carry out the iGEM Latin Cinema activity, where we created a video, in order to share the diversity of our country showing the different dialects spoken in each region.
APPROACH WITH GOVERNMENTAL ENTITIES
COUNTRY'S POSITION ON THE ISSUE OF SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY
In addition, our team participated in the construction of the country's position on the issue of Synthetic Biology. This activity was managed by the Ministry of Environment in compliance with Ecuador's obligations as part of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD). As a result of our participation, we expressed our deep concern about the general inclusion of products and components developed through synthetic biology for the application of the CBD. This is because of the enormous potential of advances in synthetic biology as a basis for building an economy based on sustainable development as part of national obligations. We believe that an operational definition of synthetic biology can help our country to consider new technological developments within the framework of the CBD.
MEETING WITH AUTHORITIES OF THE MINISTRY OF ENVIRONMENT
Determined to disseminate our project and the applications of synthetic biology, we contacted regulators from the Ministry of Environment of Ecuador. As a result of this approach, we presented the R&D potential of synthetic biology and modern biotechnology in the country. In addition, we presented our funding, outreach and legal needs to the authorities. In response, the natural heritage and diversity officers expressed their willingness to organize a meeting with the Secretariat of Higher Education, Science, Technology and Innovation to apply for funding. On the other hand, the authorities expressed their interest that our team participate in an initiative associated with sustainable development, promoted by the Ministry of the Environment. They even promised to invite us as a part involved in the review of regulatory frameworks associated with biotechnology.
