On the Communication work front, we have the goal of the scientific divulgation and public dissemination of the BioPank project. Communicating through Graphic Design, media, and different social networks, we produce content related to synthetic biology, leishmaniasis, including the discoveries and experiences of the team, using fun tools such as video series and lives. In our first year, we managed to gain a lot of followers on Instagram, which motivated us to find different ways to communicate with our audience and convey our content.
We believe that today social media is necessary for scientific dissemination and this is one of the reasons we focused on it. On the other hand, we also tried to pay attention to other ways of divulgation like symposia, meetings, (mostly online) events, interviews, and even in our SynFronteras Club. This was important to our path because it was how we showed that every possibility of communication is a possibility of scientific engagement. Thus, creating a relationship with society in general, more specifically at the Triple Border, contributing to disseminate scientific knowledge in areas such as Synthetic Biology and Biotechnology.
Dissemination of information in many ways is relevant. It can help to improve current conditions, create new networks, and perhaps get the necessary support. We want to reach all social and economic classes, large companies, and large public sectors. Our expectations are high, but what will happen in the coming years will be a big surprise. Learn more about us on the following pages.
Radio Appearances
An important part of the divulgation and public appearances of BioPank were the three Radio Interviews that we participated. The general population of our city listen a lot to the radio, especially when in traffic, which made us also consider this type of communication.
We did the two firsts interviews at the beginning of 2021, at Rádio Itaipu 105.7 and Rádio Clube 100.9, before we got our sponsorship and even half of our team members. It was a great experience to be able to talk not only about our intentions with the project and all we aimed to achieve but also for talking about synthetic biology live in a radio program, maybe for the first time in our city. It was also very nice to introduce the iGEM Competition to them, to see that the interviewers got really excited about this new world we were bringing.
Our last interview was in October 2021 on a bigger radio called Band FM with a wider range of listeners, and the specific program that we went to was focused on the young population of our city. This time the experience was a little different because we had accumulated much more information on the project itself and also on how to communicate this knowledge in a more accessible way. Another difference was that we already had, at this time, our great sponsor, Itaipu Binacional, and we were able to thank them and all the other personalities that became so important to us in this meantime.
One thing we definitely took out from these appearances was to always get better at sending our message. It is the most important thing to a good science divulgation to be able to talk with the largest and most diverse amount of people and the radio programs gave us this broader view.
Rádio Itaipu, April 2021
In the Rádio Club one, we gave an interview at a program that was dedicated to the animal cause, called "Clube do Pet". This opened to us the space of sharing our perspectives on what could be done to change the reality of Leishmaniasis in our region with the listeners that were tuned for the cause, making us reach other audiences.
Newspaper
The article entitled 'Team of students researches in the synthetic biology area, to combat leishmaniasis' was published in the news section of our university (UNILA) on March 29, 2021. In it, several topics are addressed, such as our team and the project, the problem of leishmaniasis, the paratransgenesis technique, the various applications of synthetic biology, the iGEM competition, interculturality, the importance of communicating in several languages, and much more.
If you haven't read it, don't worry, there's still time! You can read it directly in the news section of the UNILA home page. You can also find the link on our Linktree, always available on our Facebook and Instagram pages.
Educational videos
Ask the vet
We often receive questions about leishmaniasis and our project. Driven by the doubts of the community, we created two series with more than 25 episodes in total in an interview format: The first is 'Ask the Vet' in partnership with the Veterinarian of dogs and cats, Thaila Soares, where we answer questions such as: Are there treatment options for the disease? How can my pet get infected?
Getting to know BioPank
The second is 'Getting to know BioPank', where we interview several team members over: What is paratransgenesis? What is a chassis? What are Wetlab and Drylab?
Public engagement and events
First Brazilian Symposium on Synthetic Biology.
We participated in the first Brazilian Symposium on Synthetic Biology. That is a meeting focused on scientific dissemination and networking, which brings together students, researchers, companies, and professionals from all over Brazil who work with or are interested in Synthetic Biology. On July 25, 2021, We presented the BioPank project. We also loved watching the presentations of other speakers, including the iGEM teams from Brazil.
MEETUP LATAM
On August 24, 2021, several teams from Latin America listed in the International iGEM 2021 competition participated in the iGEM LATAM Meetup event.
There, we learned more about our projects and also, we were able to participate in a scaled simulation of the Giant Jamboree. We made our presentation in English, and a panel of judges, made up of PhDs and trained researchers, evaluated us and gave us some feedback.
LATAM FEST 2021
One of the activities for the LATAM FEST 2021 is the Latin Cinema. In this activity, we shared a little of the culture of every participating country in a short video, thereby we connected with the other teams from Brazil to work together and create it. Further, our team made a proof of concept about Biopank's project to simulate the Giant Jamboree to receive feedback from judges.
Interviews
For BiotecLatina
Biotec Latina is a Latin American collaborative organization connecting people and initiatives focused on biotechnology and life sciences in general.
They organized several LIVES, of which we participated and had the opportunity to meet more iGEM teams from Latin America, who are participating this year in iGEM Design League o iGEM Global Competition. We learned more about their expectations and experiences. That was very exciting. If you want to see our LIVE broadcast of September 30, 2021, it is available on Biotec Latina's Instagram account.
For Ecologia e Saude
Ecologiaesaude disseminates scientific information about dengue and other arboviruses associated with mosquitoes of the genus Aedes, supporting scientific teaching and research to encourage public interaction with the scientific world through often making explanatory videos. That content can serve as support material for the teacher and informative and educational material for students. Our team participated in an interview entitled: Synthetic biology in the fight against Leishmaniasis.
We talked mainly about that disease, the BioPank project, and synthetic biology. You can find the content on their website or directly on the 'Ecologiaesaude' channel on YouTube
