Team:Bielefeld-Germany/Public relations Overview

Summary

In Germany there is an ongoing debate about synthetic biology and iGEM. This discussion is often affected by concerns, skepticisms, fear and the criticism about “playing god”..

Many big German newspapers published about these topics (Der Spiegel, Der Tagesspiegel, Die Zeit), there are even political movements which want to prevent the application of synthetic biology. These movements are for example initiating petitions with the collection of signatures against the design of synthetic organisms (Testbiotech). Even the German government had to face questions about synthetic biology and iGEM by members of the German parliament. The questions were answered by the State Secretary Dr. Helge Braun of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research. read more

Cell-free Biosafety

We integrated biosafety aspects in our blueprint trough providing cell-free systems.

Cell-free biosensors have the significant advantage that for the production all GMOs stay in the controlled environment of the lab and are not taken outside the lab for the application of the biosensor. All cells are grown under controlled conditions and only qualified personnel have access to them. This minimizes the risk of releasing GMOs into the environment and therefore the possibility of horizontal gene transfer.

We got an expert view on cell-free biosensors concerning technology assessment, biosafety and the embedment in the current discussions about synthetic biology by Dr. Arnold Sauter from the Office of Technology Assessment at the German Bundestag (TAB). read more

GENIALE Open Lab Course

We organized a lab course and lab tour for over 150 children, adolescents and their parents.

One of our goals is an objective science communication in the fields of biotechnology and especially synthetic biology. To improve and expand our outreach we had the opportunity to take part in the GENIALE. This is one of the biggest European science fairs with over 50,000 participants, funded by the European Union and the state of North Rhine Westphalia. The iGEM team Bielefeld took the chance to participate with an open lab course for all ages and an in depth science café in the evening. read more

Science Café

We hosted a science café about synthetic biology, iGEM and our projects.

The science café is an event organized by Bielefeld Marketing in a restaurant in downtown Bielefeld. In a comfortable setting we were able to give a presentation, followed by a moderated panel discussion with some team members and questions from the interested audience. Our goal was to show that we want to get in contact with the public, in particular present our project and get some feedback. read more

The iGEM Team Bielefeld at a local high school

Though synthetic biology (SB) is going to be the next big thing in biology, its researches are always raising public concerns respectivly are always in the focus of a public opinion.

Therefore we got in contact with a local high school, in order to get an impression of the public awareness concerning synthetic biology. Hence we discussed with pupils about pros and cons of Synthetic Biology, iGEM and our projects as examples for applications. About 80 seniors from different biology and chemistry A-level courses came to the school's assembly hall and listened to our presentation, followed by questions. Afterwards the students were split into smaller groups of ten to twenty people and got accompanied by members of the Bielefeld iGEM team to discuss about iGEM and SB. read more

Cebitec Symposium

European iGEM teams meet in Bielefeld, Germany. A review on the 6th CeBiTec Symposium Genome-Based Microbiology: From -omics Research to Systems and Synthetic Biology

The annual CeBiTec Symposium, first held in 2006, deals with prospective topics in the broad spectrum of biotechnological research. Each year international scientists come together in Bielefeld setting the focus on current innovations, approaches and methodologies. The issues so far included Solar Bio-Fuels(2008), bioIMAGING (2009) and New Frontiers in Microbial Genome Research (2010). The 6th CeBiTec Symposium was held under the topic Genome-Based Microbiology: From -omics Research to Systems and Synthetic Biology took place between the 18th and 20th of July, 2011. read more

Student Convention

The iGEM Team Bielefeld was honored with an invitation to the 2nd BIO.NRW (PhD) Student Convention at the BayArena in Leverkusen.

The congress gives lifesience (PhD) students the opportunity to meet representatives of industry and academia, get information for career entry as well as improve their soft skills in workshops. Apart from the opportunity to participate in the convention, the role of the iGEM Team Bielefeld was to give a project presentation about iGEM as an example for remarkable scientific dedication during academic studies. The VIP-lounge in the stadium of the national league soccer team Bayer Leverkusen served as the venue for the two day congress. read more

Strategic Process

The German Federal Ministry of Education and Research manages the Strategic Process Biotechnology 2020+.

Together with research organizations and universities the vision is to develop the next generation of biotechnological processes as well as initiate their realization. Apart from funding of research projects, expert talks on the topics medicine, energy, environment and industry are arranged. Every year a highlight congress is organized, where representatives from academia, industry and politics meet to discuss the future of biotechnology. This year, parts of the iGEM Team Bielefeld were invited to actively participate and present posters about the 2010 and 2011 projects. read more

Beacon Box

A prototype to show how the fluorescence would look like when using our cell-free bisphenol A biosensor system.

We build this "Beacon Box" to show the audience at the Science Café presentation the fluorescence light which would be emitted by our cell-free bishphenol A biosensor system. It is a simple prototype which can easyly be build by everyone for home-use. To see the specifications and construction manual for our "Beacon Box". read more

Press

A comprehensive list of all press articles about our iGEM team.

This page gives a list of all news paper articles, internet news spots, radio feature, etc. about our iGEM team project. read more