Overview

The aim of our education and communication initiatives is to spread awareness within the broader community about synthetic biology and its applications. Duke iGEM has collaborated with organizations, schools, and other iGEM teams to create a more collaborative and open community for science learning and education.

TriGEM Research Symposium

TriGEM was a joint hybrid research symposium in collaboration with Duke University, North Carolina State University (NCSU), and The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill (UNC) iGEM teams. Undergraduates from each respective iGEM team presented their progress and plans within the field of synthetic biology. We hosted this “mini-jamboree” to unite the synthetic biology community in the Research Triangle Park area and uplift one another and celebrate the current successes in our research, human practices endeavors, and educational outreach.

Speed Dating Networking

For everyone to get to know each other, they lined up for speed dating. Attendees gave short introductions and then proceeded to answer questions such as:

• If you could be any protein, what would you be?
• What do you find most fascinating in synthetic biology?
• If you had a superpower related to synthetic biology, what would it be, and how would you use it for the greater good of science?
• What's the most "sci-fi" idea in synthetic biology that you find intriguing or hope to see become a reality in the future?
• Would you rather time travel in the past or future to meet a famous scientist ?

After three minutes, they would rotate and meet someone new. This activity facilitated social interaction, helping people break the ice and engage in conversations with others they might not have talked to otherwise.

College Workshop for High School Students

Simultaneously, while the in person attendees did the speed dating, the virtual high school attendees participated in a college readiness workshop. Student representatives from Duke, UNC, and NCSU gave advice to high school students regarding college and the synthetic biology space.

Duke, UNC, and NCSU iGEM Presentations

After the speed dating and college workshop, Duke, UNC, and NCSU teams presented their iGEM projects. The presentations were done Jamboree style, with a 20-minute time slot given to each team to serve as a practice run before the official competition in October. After each presentation, questions from the Zoom and in-person attendees were answered.

Faculty Talks

After the presentations from each iGEM team were completed, expert guest speakers gave presentations.

Dr. Pranam Chatterjee is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Computer Science at Duke University, Co-Founder at UbiquiTx, Inc, and Co-Founder at Gameto, Inc. His talk covered programmable genomes, proteomes, and cell engineering.

Dr. Emma Chory is an Assistant Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Duke. Her talk explored the potential of phage and robotics assisted directed evolution.

Synthetic Biology Designathon

The final component of TriGEM was the Synthetic Biology Designathon where attendees split into diverse teams with representatives from each university. Each team was tasked to design an infographic explaining a synthetic biology concept.

In the future, iGEM teams can create similar Designathon activities using our instructions to create educational infographics that help educate the general public on important synthetic biology concepts. This quick activity can also be easily integrated at any future iGEM meetups.

Figure 1: Graphic Deliverables created by TriGEM attendees