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Lectures on Synthetic Biology
    School visit is part of our project that could directly inform the high school students about synthetic biology. We visited Yaohua High School, Sixth High School and Nanshan School affiliated with China National Institute for Educational Research(SZyangxiao). And we gave a presentation on the Synthetic Biology and iGEM. Looking down on the faces of these students, we knew that some of whom may end up doing biological research a few years later.
Yaohua High School
    We introduced the conception of Synthetic Biology and showed some slices about the harmful effect of nitrate and nitrite. Then we presented iGEM and our project to them. We also answered some questions asked by the curious senior school students.
    Synthetic biology is still in an early developing stage in China and it is believed to bring new opportunities to biotechnology and to solve critical problems and scares that we might face now and in the future, like food and fuel crisis. However, similar to the situation in western countries, synthetic biology is still in an emerging field in China that lacks clear definition and safety laws. The lack of a well-accepted definition and safety concerns do not seem to stop the Chinese government and scientists from pursuing synthetic biology. In recent years, high standard labs and institutions have been set up featuring mainly on research of synthetic biology. Funds from Chinese government on synthetic biology increases significantly. There are several universities that are playing the leading role in the field of synthetic biology in China, while more and more universities and colleges are joining in. A good example to show the Chinese students’ curiosity on synthetic biology might be the increasing number of universities that took part in the iGEM competition through the past five years.
    Our lectures and discussion sessions were open to anyone who wanted to join. Because the class was for people of all experience levels, our lecture started as an explanation of the most important biological mechanisms. Building on the basics, then we introduced synthetic biology both within the context of iGEM and as it is understood in some of the most significant synbio laboratories. When we felt like the basics of synthetic biology had been covered, we were keen to explore its public perception as well as the possibilities of its future. We involved discussion groups on topics from the ethics of synthetic biology to its public image to the problem of intellectual property.
The sixth high school
    To popularize the concept and spirit of synthetic biology,SZMS iGEM team held a lecture on June 11th, which was mainly oriented to the grade 10 students in The Sixtn High School, as well as all the other students who were interested in synthetic biology.
    The preparation of the lecture started 3 weeks prior to the lecture. Posters were elaborately designed and posted up around the campus. We also bulletined the news through E-mail and phone calls, to ensure every potential audience might be interested in it and took part in.
    On the afternoon of June 11th, we were flattered the moment walking into meeting place, for the room was almost filled up. Never had we thought that the lecture would attract so many audiences. The audiences, most of which were grade 10 students, responded warmly to the splendid lectures given by the three speakers. Chen Pengxuan first gave an overall introduction of the history of synthetic biology. And then he went on with several detailed programs and potential applications on theory of synthetic biology. The audiences were shocked by the marvelous and multiple work done by the engineered bacteria in a popular and easy-to-understand language. The talks took ninety minutes in all, while the question and answer session lasted for another half an hour. His wonderful speech in his unique humorous style won him warm applause from the audiences in the end.
SZyangxiao
    In order to promote synthetic biology and iGEM, we decided to give a presentation to a senior school, SZyangxiao. During the presentation, we give them a brief introduction of the basic knowledge,research strategy , application and industrialization of synthetic biology. Furthermore, we also introduced several interesting iGEM projects. In the end of the presentation, we introduced our iGEM project this year in a plain way. With the help of the presentation and their basic knowledge on the synthetic biology, they have a very clear idea about what iGEM is like as well as our project when we finished.
    As synthetic biology is going to be the next big thing in biology, its researches are always raising public concerns respectively are always in the focus of a public opinion. Therefore we got in contact with these local schools, in order to get an impression of the public awareness concerning synthetic biology. Hence we discussed with students about pros and cons of Synthetic Biology, iGEM and our projects as examples for applications.
    This morning was an important experience for the senior school students and also for us. We got some insights about what students think and are concerned about when discussing synthetic biology. Surprinsingly there were not so much concerns about our work as aspected, though the students already gave thought about general aspects of genetical engineering and synthetic biology. With the experience we gained we will improve our human practise work to arouse some interest and hopefully prevented some fear when facing synthetic biology. All in all it was a great morning and as the public discussion is always an important part of iGEM, we encourage other teams to sometimes leave the lab and communiacte with the public.