Summary
Since the start of our project, we have tried to focus on the problems within society. How do we create a product that has a lasting impact on society? To answer this question, we reached out to the public and stayed in contact with them over the course of our project. iGEM Stockholm 2021 has thus, by integrating different parts of society, managed to pitch an idea not simply made in the lab, but an idea that has partially been made by and for society. We have touched upon a wide array of people by updating the HP handbook (made by iGEM Stockholm 2017), getting in contact with different groups of people and collaborating with different iGEM teams.
Our journey started by engaging with the public and getting their opinion on the problems of our world today. When it comes to outreach, we have tried to engage the whole of the community by hosting several digital events, asking for feedback using surveys and by approaching artists and the public, in order to inspire, inform and create art. Our project thus focuses on teaching the public about skin microbiota, as well as normalizing the look of any type of skin! Fun events included the educational package we made for two age categories (6-9 and 10-13 years), our SKINart project and our two collaborative, inspirational sessions with iGEM Uppsala! However, there is much more:
Education and Awareness
Education and creating awareness of synthetic biology are important parts of any iGEM project. To make sure to reach out to different groups and types of people, we thought of a variety of projects and events.
Educational package
Who are underrepresented when it comes to scientific knowledge? Children! Generally speaking, science is explained in an advanced way, requiring previous knowledge to build on. So what if you simplified it enough to be understandable for children? They are curious and want to learn, which is why we launched our educational package.
This package contains activities regarding synthetic biology: it was implemented in Swedish schools. We decided to target younger pupils, ages 6 to 9, and 10 to 13, as they usually do not get introduced to synthetic biology.
We provided a schedule and instructions for teachers of the package: we started off the day with a short video explaining what synthetic biology is. We divided the videos into two age groups, to fit the Swedish curriculum in biology. The introductory video was followed by biology charades. Next the pupils learnt about the basics of DNA and how synthetic biology often works - by changing the DNA of bacteria.
To deepen their understanding of the topic, an exercise called "Create your own Super Bacteria" was next. In this exercise the pupils were given four legos in different colours, each lego representing a biobrick. The pupils were invited to arrange their biobricks in a sequence of their choice and also to choose from which direction their construct was going to be read. Each construct corresponded to a superpower of their bacteria, according to our key. The pupils were invited to draw their bacteria; you can see some of their drawings below! We ended the day with a bacteria related running game and a kahoot summarizing the topics.
Figure 1: Some of the artworks created by one of the classes that worked with the educational package
As one of the teachers told us: "The kids realised that any of them could later on become a scientist!"
SKINart
Skin problems have existed at all times, all ages and in different forms. Since our project focuses on skin health, we felt that normalizing skin problems and starting a discussion about the societal pressure to have perfect skin has been one of our duties. According to our skin microbiota survey 79% have had skin problems at some point in their life. 30% have felt pretty insecure about it, whereas 58% of our respondents felt mildly affected by the state of their skin. We believe that the shame that comes with skin conditions prevents people from seeking professional help: we want to do our part in breaking that stigma! Therefore we asked the public to send in pictures of their skin, which according to them was flawed. These pictures we passed on to seven local artists to use as an inspirational source in order to create art. The seven beautiful paintings that were created were posted on our instagram for the public to enjoy and to realize the normality of skin problems.
Figure 2: The overall logo used for the SKINart project
We managed to get 7 works of art from some amazing local artists. All art was posted on our Instagram and visible during one of our events. Hopefully, we have inspired and helped empower people concerning their skin!
Project Reveal Night
To reveal the topic of our project, a Gather town was made. Gathertown can be used to have an interactive but Covid-safe event. During the event, the topic for this year's project was revealed: a rapid skin test to discern imbalances in skin microbiota. A variety of different rooms were used to allow for interaction between the public and team members in specific roles. The reveal night was a big success: many of the participants asked a bunch of great questions and provided input on the usability and necessity of the proposed product. We even recommended Gather town as an interactive platform to some other iGEM teams we interacted with, to help them organise dynamic events at a distance!
Figure 3: A photo of our Gather Town
All different rooms in the town had a function of their own. Here, you can see the very popular wet lab room. Gathertown was the ideal platform to answer all of the questions and interact with our visitors!
Market Analysis Survey
A large part of the people in our surroundings suffer from skin conditions. To find out what number exactly, and how this affects day to day life, we set out a survey. This survey included some questions on our project, the rapid skin test, to get a better idea of the usability of MIKROSKIN. The survey results thus gave us some great insights for the business plan, as well as creating awareness of the presence and influence skin conditions have on our day to day life.
INSERT THREE GRAPHS/FIGURES: Q 1 Q3 Q "If a quick test for detection of a microbial imbalance on the skin existed, would you want to use it?"
Second GatherTown Event
To update friends, family and interested people on the progress of our project, we organized a second event using Gather town. For this event, we updated the town using our SKINart. Like last time, the team leaders gave an introduction to our progress, after which there was more than an hour for interaction, questions and comments from the public. Again, the event helped us (re)gain a better perspective on the usability of our product and the effect it would have on different stakeholders, as well as the implications on ethics and safety that come with our idea.
Nyhets Morgon
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Partnership with iGEM Uppsala
First BBQ Brainstorn
The Stockholm and Uppsala iGEM team have always had a strong collaboration. This year we did not think of anything less. We co-organized a BBQ in Uppsala where our two teams got to know each other and the projects we're working on this year. This was the beginning of a more longstanding and meaningful partnership. After this meetup we started brainstorming on a number of possible collaborations in order to make sure to make the best of both projects.
Figure 4: To finish up the evening, the teams mixed into smaller groups to play the traditional Swedish game Kubb.
Drivhuset Pitching Workshop
The first big event set up in collaboration with Uppsala was the pitch workshop with Drivhuset Norden. Drivhuset helps startups by teaching them how to present themselves in a meaningful way. Our team went to Uppsala, where we started the afternoon with a lab tour in small groups. Here, the Uppsala team told us more about the techniques they are using to make their project a success. After the tour, we started with the workshop. Erik Tosterud from Drivhuset gave us a lot of tips, then time to prepare an elevator pitch about our project. We pitched for the other team and gave each other constructive feedback. The workshop helped us prepare for both NiC and the Giant Jamboree, by helping us recognise the unique value proposition of our project.
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Ethics Workshop
Synthetics is a non-profit, student driven organisation focusing on the importance of ethics in synthetic biology. Both the Uppsala and our team were highly interested in learning more about ethics and how to apply ethics on our particular projects. We contacted Erik Hartman and Blanka Novak from Synthetics, who were willing to help us by organising a workshop. We started the day off with the lab tour we owed the Uppsala team, after which we learned more about ethics and its general importance in the field of synthetic biology. Then we got safety-related feedback, specifically focused on our projects. The brainstorm/discussion session helped us shape the rest of our project, by encouraging us to write an ethics workplan.
Figure 5: Erik and Blanka touched on many different aspects of ethics, thus making sure both of our teams gained the most information possible from the workshop and discussion session!
Collaborations
To see our collaborations with other iGEM teams and more, please look at this page