Scientific education and communication plays an essential role in synthetic biology as public understanding and trust are crucial for improving our world. Clear, accurate, and accessible. These are the goals one should strive towards when discussing scientific topics with the public. Not only does this inspire the next generation of scientists, but it directly impacts the research direction and policies. We participated and organized a variety of events and engaged in thoughtful discussion on the plastic pollution problem and how ReMixHD can help.
In May, we were given the chance to present ReMixHD during the best practices project presentations at the Prio1 climate network conference, held at the KlimaArena in Sinsheim. We encountered fascinating more than 100 like-minded young people, ranging from 16 to 28 years old, from different backgrounds and fields of study but who all have one goal - to foster positive change in various ways related to our climate and environment. In our presentation, we talked about the massive effects of plastic pollution and how using synthetic biology tools makes it possible to solve one of humanity's biggest problems. Additionally, we had wonderful personal exchanges with the attendees, where we explained our project in more detail and clarified some questions about the risks and benefits of GMOs. Throughout the weekend, we also participated in engaging workshops and attended thrilling panel discussions with representatives from various NGOs and political organizations, focusing on climate communication and its importance in making a change for the better.
We had the opportunity to present our ReMixHD project at the Annual Vereinigung für Allgemeine und Angewandte Mikrobiologie (VAAM) conference in Göttingen, Germany. We used this event to promote not only our own idea but also to evangelize the spark of synthetic biology. Multiple iGEM teams presented their projects and discussed the challenges in each project designs and wet lab experiments.
Together with other German iGEM Teams, we submitted an article about our innovative recycling platform in one of the largest life science magazines of Germany. The article was published in the 6/2023 issue.
On the initiative of the Patras Medicine iGEM Team we joined their "World Health Day brings together iGEMers from all over the world" project. We choose the quote, provided from a list by Patras Medicine, “A healthy outside starts from the inside” - Robert Urich. This quote reminded us that we must keep in mind to eat healthy, do sports, take breaks, and value our bodies and relationships to have enough drive to work towards all the goals we want to achieve. Thanks to Patras for giving us this opportunity and reminding us to do the things within our powers to stay healthy. All the other photos from the different teams and who participated can be seen on the Patras Medicine iGEM Team’s Instagram page in the post dated 6. April 2023.
In April, we met the iGEM Teams from Thessaly and Sorbonne during an online “Pseudomonas Talk”. It was an exciting exchange where we gained insights about our project designs and focused on how we plan to work with the bacteria class of Pseudomonas.
During a meeting with the iGEM Team BIT China we exchanged our plans for our project's Human
Practices, Wetlab, and Drylab teams. First, BIT China gave a detailed and sophisticated presentation
on their work and after that, we engaged in an interactive discussion to provide constructive
criticism regarding our plans.
We further engaged with BIT China to do a comic series on synthetic biology within their Human
Practices team. Therefore, they inspired us to do a little comic on our own. We provided the story
to BIT-China as the content of third issue, but due to time constraints, the upload of the comic is
currently being stalled.
In addition, BIT China also did art on petri dishes. They also did our iGEM logo “REMIX” on a petri
dish.
In June, we participated in the local iGEM Baden-Württemberg meetup, organized by the iGEM Stuttgart team. During this event, teams from the south-wester part of Germany gathered at the University of Stuttgart campus. The fellow teams included iGEM Team Tübingen, iGEM Team Freiburg and iGEM Team Stuttgart. After an initial socializing session, where we interacted with the team members, each team presented their projects. Following these presentations, we discussed our challenges during our iGEM journey and shared valuable tips, particularly in areas such as finances and sponsorship.
In April, we met with iGEM Aachen via Zoom since we both focus on bioremediation topics in our project. We presented our project and structure to each other and brainstormed possible collaboration ideas as Heidelberg recycled mixed plastic waste and Aachen E-waste.
On the 23rd of October, we will join the Mini Jamboree organized by TU Eindhoven, where iGEMs teams from the Netherlands, Belgium, Germany, and Luxemburg will meet and share their projects, focusing on one special prize we have chosen. We are looking forward to it!
In a school presentation, we took the exciting opportunity to introduce our iGEM project at the
Carl-Benz-Gymnasium and give pupils an insight into the fascinating world of synthetic biology.
Our talk started with a general introduction to the basics of biology and synthetic biology. We
explained to the students how scientists can manipulate genetic information to create useful
biological systems that can be applied in various fields. We explained to the students how we can
use bacteria to break down mixed plastics, how we have developed them to decompose plastic waste
and how this helps to reduce environmental pollution from plastics.
Throughout the presentation, we emphasized the importance of ethics and safety in biotechnology.
We encouraged the students to think about the impact of their scientific work on society and to
make responsible decisions. We managed to put the basic concepts learnt in school into a wider
context and give impulses on how the sometimes-abstract world of research can be translated into
real life applications that affect our everyday lives.
The feedback on our presentation from the teachers and students was incredibly positive and was an
inspiring experience for both the students and us. Infact, they were sad that they couldn’t spend
even more time on listening to our talk! We could see the enthusiasm of the young participants for
science and hope that some of them might even have been inspired to take an interest in synthetic
biology or similar fields in the future. It was a great opportunity to share knowledge and passion
for science and influence the next generation of researchers and innovators.
Inspired by Ms. Bürstner, we designed stickers to educate people on how to dispose of plastic waste properly so that we could avoid mixed plastic waste as much as possible. For example, we designed stickers for margarine packaging to show people that they should separate the lid from the case before disposing of it since they are made of different plastic materials.
At this year's AK Digitale Medizin pitch event in Heidelberg, we presented our ideas and project as part of the iGEM Team Heidelberg to an international audience of start-ups and experts. Our participation in this event underlined the interface between entrepreneurship and scientific innovation. During the pitch event, we shared our vision about a biological plastic recycling platform and explain how our biotechnological solution can have a positive impact on the environment. Our participation in the AK Digitale Medizin pitch event in Heidelberg not only helped us to raise awareness of the global plastic waste crisis, but also improved our skills in pitching and presenting to a critical audience. We are grateful for this experience and are motivated to continue to pursue our ideas and push our visions for a more sustainable future in digital medicine. It was an impressive demonstration of entrepreneurship in the world of science and innovation.
