Team:Gifu/Another Area
Arts
Arts of iGEM Gifu
Creating iGEM Gifu Original LINE Sticker
LINE Sticker with original Characters
LINE is a Social Networking Service with the largest number of users in Japan and is used by the population of all ages as a convenient communication tool. Particularly LINE stickers, which is a content available in LINE, are frequently used in daily chats. Because of their ease of use, it is used to express emotions and opinions with just a single touch. Therefore, iGEM Gifu created an original LINE sticker based on the methods of the experiment and instruments used in synthetic biology that are easy for the general public to understand and use in daily chats and provided them to LINE. The sticker features original characters based on microorganisms such as E. coli and yeast, and are easy to use with humor and jokes related to research. Since LINE stickers can be seen by people who purchase and use them, as well as by people who receive them when they are used in chats, individuals and companies alike are actively creating and distributing stamps, and this is one of the areas where efforts are being made to increase publicity and name recognition. The LINE sticker created by iGEM Gifu is considered to be an effective way to make the public aware of the field of synthetic biology and to help them visualize what kind of experiments are being conducted. In fact, in the first week of sales, more than 200 users received the stamp as part of their chats, indicating that the sale of the iGEM Gifu original LINE stamp contributed to increasing the publicity of synthetic biology among the general public in Japan.
iGEM Gifu Crowdfunding
Conducting Crowdfunding
iGEM Gifu conducted crowdfunding on CAMPFIRE, the most popular crowdfunding site in Japan, from September to October 2021. Crowdfunding is a system to collect funds from people who want to support a project, by sending out information about the project through the Internet. Project supporters can receive goods and services as returns depending on the amount of support. We have described iGEM, an international competition of synthetic biology, and the research projects of iGEM Gifu to the general public. We also used original characters based on microorganisms such as E. coli and yeast to attract people who do not have a scientific background, and we prepared original goods as returns of our crowdfunding, designed with stories and humor about research. Since these goods are used in their daily life, they catch the attention of many people. Therefore, we can say that we have created a wonderful opportunity for people who had never heard of iGEM and synthetic biology to become aware of it. As a result of this crowdfunding, a total of 31 people supported us with about $2500. Some of the supporters said, "This is the first time I have heard of this interesting project and the field of synthetic biology. I hope you can make it a success”. It can be said that this crowdfunding was an opportunity for us to attract users who are not familiar with iGEM and synthetic biology.