Abstract
This year, our team has invested significant resources in education and outreach, driven by our strong conviction that proper education serves as the foundation for the advancements we aspire to achieve in the field of synthetic biology. We took measures to ensure that we reached diverse age, while focusing on high school students, encouraging them to:
- ISRA-GEM Competition: we established the first ISRA-GEM competition, open to high school students nationwide, in collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Education. The competition had great success among the children and we have already spoken with the Ministry of Education about their support in next year's competition
- Ort Partnership: We have partnered with the country's largest educational network, 'Ort,' to establish a synthetic biology curriculum in their high schools, nurturing the next generation of scientists. In addition, this collaboration developed into a partnership between TAU and Ort, hopefully resulting in many collaborations between future iGEM teams and Ort.
- Personal mentoring: We engaged directly with 10th-grade students from an Ort School, visiting their institution to teach them about synthetic biology, provide guidance for their research projects, and invited them to take a tour of the university.
In addition to our focus on high school students, we've made concerted efforts to address a broader audience:
- Publishing an Interview with an Industry Expert: We conducted an illuminating interview with the CTO of Israel's bio-foundry company, 'Alagene,' which was featured on the 'Little Big, Science' website and Facebook page.
- Children's Educational Book: To inspire a passion for synthetic biology from an early age, we've created an engaging children's book filled with activities related to this field
- Conferences & Stakeholders: Throughout our project, we connected with companies, attended conferences, and organized meetups to facilitate partnerships between high schools, industry, and academia, enabling Israeli students to explore Synthetic Biology.
The following sections elaborate on the educational activities conducted for each specific age group.
High school students
Personal mentoring of High school students
ORT Israel, established in 1949, is the country's largest educational network, overseeing 245 institutions across 60+ local authorities. Committed to providing a comprehensive education for modern challenges. ORT's flagship program, iSTEAM, merges Innovation, Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, and Mathematics to prepare students for the 21st century, and garnering global acclaim for its innovative approach. Within iSTEAM, students engage in multidisciplinary projects, honing teamwork, critical thinking, innovation, and entrepreneurship skills while addressing real-world challenges. This year, the students' task was to create a website or poster outlining a problem, its background, and a solution to it.
Our team accompanied 10th-grade students from an Ort School in Ashkelon, which is a peripheral city in Israel, as part of the iSTEAM program. Our goal was to inspire the students to choose synthetic biology problems for their projects by introducing them to the field. During our visit:
- We introduced the students to the iGEM competition and provided presentations on synthetic biology, highlighting its importance in various fields, such as medicine and industry.
- We provided the students with problems and ideas for the synthetic biology field that they could use as a basis for their projects.
- We supported the students by preparing a template that outlines the necessary components that should be included on a site that deals with solving a problem using synthetic biology.
By providing these resources, we aim to assist the students in developing their projects and inspire their creativity, and mainly make the field of synthetic biology accessible to the students and inspire their interest in this cutting-edge field. During the visit, we were impressed by the students' curiosity and eagerness to learn more.
These are few examples to the students projects:
On June 11, 2023, the students whom we accompanied in the iSTEAM
program arrived at Tel Aviv University for a tour. The visit's schedule
contained:
- A presentation about our iGEM project this year.
- Lectures by Prof. Noam Shomron about the wonderful world of DNA and Prof. Yossi Yovel about connecting ecology and neuroscience using bats research.
- A tour in some of the university's laboratories (Dr. Tali Ilovitsh, Prof. Itai Benhar, Prof. Nir Ohad and Dr. Nir Sade) to see the equipment and experiments in progress.
The visit was an educational experience for the students, which gave them another glimpse into research.
At the end of the day, we conducted a survey:
Why did you enjoy it the most?
- An engaging lecture on a subject I initially thought wouldn't interest me.
- The diverse range of research areas discussed was highly interesting.
- The topic of DNA holds great interest for me, and the professor presented it in a fascinating manner, addressing everyday issues.
- The professor was personable, the content was exceptional, and it was explained in an engaging manner from start to finish; I thoroughly enjoyed every moment.
- I enjoyed all the lectures and tours; they covered a wide array of topics and were thoroughly fascinating.
What did you learn?
- I gained an understanding of the purpose of genes.
- I acquired knowledge about the components of DNA, how vaccines work, and the impact of DNA mutations on the body.
- I learned numerous aspects of biology, with a particular focus on DNA.
- I learned a lot of new information about genetic engineering.
- I gathered significant insights into synthetic biology.
- I discovered numerous new facts about biology and biotechnology.
- I learned that it's possible to obtain people's DNA and clone them.
A higher score indicates that the respondent was more profoundly influenced by the tour.
We were very fulfilled to accomplish the goal of sparking
students' interest in synthetic biology in a way that
encourages them to pursue this topic in the near or distant
future, where nearly 50% of the students answer that the tour
inspired them to pursue synthetic biology in the future!
Establishment of the first ISRA-GEM competition
Our experience with Ort's students led us to the idea of creating a synthetic biology competition, specifically for high school students - The ISRA-GEM competition.Our main goal was to expose the subjects of synthetic biology and iGEM concepts to high school students. We aimed to create a platform on which students could learn about synthetic biology in an experiential way. We wanted to make sure that students not only learn about synthetic biology, but also develop skills such as thinking about an idea, making it applicable, working in a team and presenting their idea - skills that are required in iGEM competition.
The contest format was designed to be accessible to all high school students, without any prerequisite knowledge or outstanding grades required. It was open to anyone who wishes to compete and has motivation to learn about the field of synthetic biology.
While developing this idea, we made efforts to make it the best way we could, so we consulted with the supervisor of biology at the Israeli Ministry of Education, Dr. Irit Sadeh, and got suggestions and feedback for improvement of our idea. She suggested a lot of great ideas to make this competition professional:
- We held Zoom meetings with biology teachers to discuss the importance of the ISRA-GEM contest, present the iGEM competition and its goals, and ask for their recommendations for the competition.
- We have prepared educational materials that contain all the knowledge the students need in order to succeed, without relying on the teachers' knowledge, and uploaded to a dedicated website.
- We set up a Whatsapp group with the students where they could ask questions and consult with us.The Whatsapp group included also their teachers so they could share problems and receive important messages.
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Regarding the final event:
- We conduct an opening session, explaining the day's schedule and the expectations from the students - what they need to be working on, how, how they should present their ideas and so on.
- We considered Dr. Sadeh's proposals on delivering certificates of participation to all the students, and how to make the final event a fun day for the students.
- Lastly, we wrote a scoring form for the judges, to make their job easier and uniform.
During the first stage of the competition, students are grouped into teams of up to 10 members. Each group should think about a problem from the synthetic biology world and propose an applicable and safe solution to the problem. Students are required to create a 3 minute video that outlines their problem and idea.
As part of the competition, we built a website that was used to run the contest. The website includes the registration process, competition updates, and important dates during the contest. IGEM information and synthetic biology content are also available on the website. The website contains videos created by our IGEM team members to aid students in creating their own videos. These videos discuss methods in molecular biology such as Crisper, PCR, genes and plasmids. Moreover, the videos demonstrate how to present ideas and convey a message, something that is relevant to many different fields.
Here is a link to the ISRA-GEM competition website
To invite the students to participate in the ISRA-GEM competition, we designed invitations that explain its concept. Both website and invitations were written in three languages: English, Arabic, and Hebrew to address the different populations in Israel. Students from religious and non-religious backgrounds, as well as Jewish and Arab students, participate in the competition.
The design of this competition encourages the students
to:
- Collaborate as a team to conduct research, engage in collective brainstorming, develop innovative concepts, and present their individual ideas, through the ISRA-GEM competition we've established.
- Gain knowledge and experience in entrepreneurship.
- Make an interest in other's ideas and ask questions about it.
The competition was launched on March 10th, 2023. Dozens of groups were registered, and 6 teams made it to the final. The competition final was held at Tel Aviv University in the form of a mini hackathon, on June 27th, 2023. Students were divided into their teams to develop their ideas. The teams refined their ideas under the guidance of advisors and had the opportunity to consult with our team members. The teams had to present their ideas, and answer questions asked by the judges and the other teams.
The winning idea was chosen by a panel of judges: Dr.
Irit Sadeh (director of the Chief supervisor of Biology,
Science and Mathematics Division at the Ministry of
Education), Prof. Avigdor Eldar (TAU School of Molecular Cell
Biology & Biotechnology), Prof. Yosi Shacham (TAU Faculty of
Engineering) and Dr. Neta Agmon (Synthetic Biology Specialist,
Alagene).
The group of students from the Hartman School in Jerusalem claimed victory with their innovative concept of creating a "super-organism" capable of plastic decomposition, showcasing their profound grasp of diverse synthetic biology tools, delivering a clear and engaging presentation, and adeptly addressing all questions posed by the judging panel.
The winning team won a tour in Alagene's labs. Alagene is Israel's leading synthetic biology foundry that offers solutions for all aspects of Synthetic biology tools and instrumentations, based on the Design, Build, Test and Learn
Overall, the students had a lot of fun participating in the ISRA-GEM competition and learned a great deal about the world of synthetic biology. We aspire to establish ISRA-GEM as an annual competition hosted by the Tel Aviv University iGEM team, aiming to introduce high school students to the field of synthetic biology and the principles of the iGEM competition. We have compiled a document containing all the ideas for improvement and preservation that we have gathered, along with instructions for easily updating the ISRA-GEM website. Our collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Education will continue, as Dr. Irit Sadeh looks forward to next year's competition and hopes to make it an annual event with an increasing number of students.
The teacher, Alaa Aahagna (most right) was a doctorant student of
Prof. Avigdor Eldar, and they were very excited to meet again.
Ort Partnership
The ISRA-GEM competition was met with great enthusiasm by biology high school teachers and program leaders who learned about it, resulting in the initiation of meetings with the ORT development department, paving the way for a long-term partnership with TAU iGEM teams. The main goal of this partnership was to help ORT establish and implement a Synthetic Biology curriculum in its high schools. We assisted in curriculum development, facilitated connections with relevant experts, and extended invitations to teachers to participate in some of the iGEM team meetings, where they could learn about general principles of synthetic biology and the iGEM competition.Among others we suggested that the curriculum will include the following topics:
- Logic gates (e.g. OR, AND, etc) and their intracellular implementation.
- Genetic stability as a major issue related to synthetic biology and the approaches to deal with it. This topic should include a short introduction to molecular evolution.
- Computational tools in synthetic biology. This includes classical bioinformatics tools such as BLAST and also tools such as CELLO (a framework that describes a programming language to design computational circuits in living cells.
We take great pride in our ability to reach out to and inspire teachers to engage with the field of synthetic biology. High school students in Israel will now have the opportunity to explore this subject prior to their academic studies. This is particularly exciting because currently, there are no public schools in Israel that explore this subject with their students.
Adults
Publishing an Interview with Industry Expert
An interview was conducted with Dr. Or Rotem, who serves as the Chief Technology Officer (CTO) at Alagene, a biotechnology company pioneering a unique service infrastructure for synthetic biology in Israel. During this interview, the iGEM team engaged with Dr. Rotem to discuss the current landscape of synthetic biology and the challenges it faces.
Based on this interview, an article about the synthetic biology field, the iGEM competition, and the Alagene company will be published on the 'Little Big Science' website and Facebook page. 'Little Big Science' (Hebrew: "Mada Gadol, Baktna") is a registered non-profit organization formed with the goal of bridging the gap between the scientific community and the general public in a direct and straightforward manner. 'Little Big Science' has over 150,000 followers on their Facebook page.
Here is a link to the article
Lectures to Tel-Aviv University's students:
During synthetic biology class, our iGEM team members presented a previous iGEM project to bio-engineering students in Tel-Aviv University. The project presented was the ULaval 2019 IGEM team project. We exposed the students of the Faculty of Engineering to the goals and values of the iGEM competition as well as the great potential of the synthetic biology field in this way.
Another lecture was given by our team member to the Adi Lautman Interdisciplinary
Program for Outstanding Students at Tel Aviv University students.
The lecture discussed patent law in biotechnology and synthetic biology,
its influence on the academy and industry, and the importance of
shared public data and resources in biology. CRISPR technology was
given as an example of the complexity of patenting research outcomes.
Conferences & Stakeholders
During the lifetime of our project, we met with various companies (Alagene, Phibro Animal Health), attended two Synthetic biology conferences (Tuller lab conference, the 2nd annual SynBio meeting in Israel) and hosted an Israeli iGEM teams meetup. We used those meetings to not only present our project, but also to share our experience in organizing the ISRA-GEM competition. Our goal by doing so was to expose members of the industry and academia to potential partnerships with various highschools. We aspire that through these collaborations, students across Israel will have the opportunity to delve into the fascinating field of Synthetic Biology.
Childrens
In order to address little children and give them knowledge and enthusiasm in the field of biology, and specifically synthetic biology from a young age, we created an activity book, containing different activities and experiments that the children can conduct at home. The primary audience for this activity book is little children, typically in the age range of 5 to 12 years. This age group is known for their natural curiosity and ability to learn through hands-on experiences. The main objective of the activity book is to provide children with an engaging and educational introduction to biology and synthetic biology. It aims to spark their interest in these fields and inspire a lifelong passion for science. The activity book contains various activities and experiments that are designed to be age-appropriate and safe for children to conduct at home such as an origami of the 3D structure of DNA, or a home experiment for extracting DNA from strawberries.
Below is the PDF version of the book:
Summary
Overall, we believe that we were able to reach a broad audience, and were successful in being adequate synthetic biology representatives in the different communities.
Our team's work promoted mutual learning and dialogue by creating spaces and opportunities for individuals of various backgrounds to collaborate, share knowledge, and engage in discussions about synthetic biology. Whether through competitions, partnerships, lectures, interviews, educational materials, or surveys, our team's efforts facilitated meaningful interactions and exchanges of ideas within the educational and scientific communities and beyond.
The ISRA-GEM competition especially promoted mutual learning and dialogue by providing an inclusive educational platform, involving experts and mentors, fostering collaboration and communication among students and teachers, and creating opportunities for students to engage with real-world challenges in the field of synthetic biology.
Our team has taken steps to document our educational initiatives, partnerships, and outreach efforts. These documented efforts can serve as valuable references and templates for others interested in promoting synthetic biology education and engagement among high school students and the wider community. This documentation includes ideas for ISRA-GEM competition improvement, instructions for website management and more. It serves as a valuable resource for anyone interested in organizing a similar competition. It not only shares the successful practices but also provides a foundation for future organizers to adapt and build upon the ISRA-GEM competition's model. Our collaboration with the Israeli Ministry of Education is a strong indication that the competition is designed for sustainability.
Our team's initiatives were implemented thoughtfully, with a focus on accessibility, inclusivity, and long-term impact. We can say that all of our educational activities, especially the ISRA-GEM competition was thoughtfully implemented through a combination of expert consultation, educational resource development, inclusivity, effective communication channels, and a focus on long-term sustainability. These elements collectively demonstrate a well-planned and considerate approach to achieving our educational goals.
To conclude, our team's multifaceted approach, from competitions and partnerships to educational materials and outreach efforts, demonstrates a thoughtful and comprehensive strategy to enable more people, especially high school students, to shape, contribute to, and participate in the field of synthetic biology.