Team:Calgary/Human Practices

From 2009.igem.org

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'''HUMAN PRACTICES: An Overview'''
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In order to form a synthetic biology community, it is very important to involve certain segments that would play a significant role in community formation. These segments include the large corporate Sector (interest lies in funding and thus more research and innovations) and the Education Sector (involvement encourages more research and development in the field). Both segments would play a critical role in sustaining the future of synthetic biology.
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However, attracting interest from these two segments of our community is not an easy task. Majority of the population in these segments probably have never heard of the new field of synthetic biology. Furthermore, there has not been much done about the ethical issues surrounding synthetic biology, which could raise questions concerning the potential harms and benefits of the field. These concerns are some of the communication barriers that stand between the corporate and education sectors, and the field of synthetic biology. Although, the complete removal of these barriers is impossible, their impact of these communication barriers could be significantly reduced. This reduction in the impact could lead to greater involvement of the education corporate sectors in the field of synthetic biology.
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Keeping these considerations in mind, our University of Calgary iGEM team tailored its approach towards the human practices aspect of our project in a way that would try to reduce the impact of these communication barriers and therefore would lead to greater involvement of the education and corporate sectors in the field of synthetic biology. And as mentioned above, these segments would play a pivotal role in the formation of a synthetic biology community. In order to increase the impact of our human practices approach, we divided our human practices team into three areas namely ethics, marketing and, education and outreach. Each area would have its own individual focus but in the end, their goal would be the same and that is to work towards the formation of a synthetic biology community. Our University of Calgary iGEM team strongly believes that it is very important for these three areas to interact with each other because all areas are related to each in some way or the other. Since the formation of a synthetic biology community was our University of Calgary iGEM team’s long term goal, we assigned each area specific short term goals and milestones that would be accomplished before the iGEM Jamboree. The following is a brief summary of the goals of the three areas of our Human Practices aspect of our project:
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* Collaboative project with UChicago: Both teams aim to create an outreach kit future iGEM teams in the competition.  
* Collaboative project with UChicago: Both teams aim to create an outreach kit future iGEM teams in the competition.  
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'''HUMAN PRACTICES: An Overview'''
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<b>Ethics</b>
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In order to form a synthetic biology community, it is very important to involve certain Segments of our community that would play a significant role in this community formation. These segments include the large Corporate Sector, whose interest in synthetic biology would lead to further funding in this field and thus more research and innovations, and the Education Sector, whose involvement would encourage more research and development in the field of synthetic biology. Both segments would play a critical role in Sustaining the Future of synthetic biology and therefore their involvement and interest in this field is important.
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However, attracting the interest of these segments of our community is not an easy job. Majority of the population in these segments probably might have never heard of synthetic biology. Furthermore, there has not been much done about the Ethical Issues surrounding synthetic biology, which could raise questions concerning the potential harms and benefits of the field. These concerns are some of the communication barriers that stand in between the corporate and education sectors, and the field of synthetic biology. Although the complete removal of these barriers is impossible, their impact of these communication barriers could be significantly reduced. This reduction in the impact could lead to greater involvement of the education corporate sectors in the field of synthetic biology.
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Keeping these considerations in mind, our University of Calgary iGEM team tailored its approach towards the Human Practices aspect of our project in a way that would try to reduce the impact of these communication barriers and therefore would lead to greater involvement of the education and corporate sectors in the field of synthetic biology. And as mentioned above, these segments would play a pivotal role in the formation of a synthetic biology community. In order to increase the impact of our Human Practices approach, we divided our Human Practices team into three areas namely Ethics, Marketing and, Education and Outreach. Each area would have its own individual focus but in the end, their goal would be the same and that is to work towards the formation of a synthetic biology. Our University of Calgary iGEM team strongly believes that it is very important for these three areas to interact with each other because all areas are related to each in some way or the other. Since the formation of a synthetic biology community was our University of Calgary iGEM team’s long term goal, we assigned each area specific short term goals and milestones that would be accomplished before the iGEM Jamboree. The following is a brief summary of the goals of the three areas of our Human Practices aspect of our project:
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'''Education and Outreach'''
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In order to promote iGEM and Synthetic Biology in the education sector, it is very important that students become involved in a practical way. Keeping this consideration in mind, our University of Calgary iGEM team organized High School Day Camps and invited 6 high schools students to our labs at the Health Sciences centre.
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Alongside the high school day camps, our University of Calgary iGEM team participated in 2 poster presentations namely the Undergraduate Student Research Program (USRP) and the Bachelor of Health Sciences Symposium. Our team would also participate in another symposium that would be held after the Jamboree called the Students Union Symposium.
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We were also involved in some outreach activities during the course of our project. Our team’s involvement in the annual University of Calgary Campus Fair and the Discovery Days are some examples of how our team aimed to promote iGEM and Synthetic Biology at the University of Calgary.
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Our University of Calgary iGEM team collaborated with the University of Chicago iGEM team to form an outreach package that will include educational tools such as PowerPoint presentations.
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'''Marketing'''
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The goals of our marketing team included attracting the corporate sector’s interest in synthetic biology, iGEM and our project, and raising sustainable amount of funds for our University of Calgary iGEM team. We commenced our marketing campaign by writing up a Business Plan that highlighted our project description for 2009 and our goals and milestones that we hope to achieve.  
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The goals of our marketing team included attracting the corporate sector’s interest in synthetic biology, iGEM and our project, and raising sustainable amount of funds for our University of Calgary iGEM team. We commenced our marketing campaign by writing up a business plan that highlighted our project description for 2009 and our goals and milestones that we hope to achieve.  
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We also organized a Sponsorship Package that highlighted the past achievements and accomplishments of our previous University of Calgary iGEM teams and also gave a description of our 2009 University of Calgary iGEM project.  
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We also organized a sponsorship package that highlighted the past achievements and accomplishments of our previous University of Calgary iGEM teams and also gave a description of our 2009 University of Calgary iGEM project.  
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Our University of Calgary iGEM team was able to Raise More Than $100, 000 Dollars for our project this year. Our sponsors range from several departments from the University of Calgary to Research and Development, and Oil Gas Companies.  
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Our University of Calgary iGEM team was able to raise more than $100,000 dollars for our project this year. Our sponsors range from several departments from the University of Calgary to research and development, and oil and gas companies.  
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Revision as of 01:10, 21 October 2009

University of Calgary

UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY



HUMAN PRACTICES INDEX
Overview

Updates

Ethics
Fundraising
Media
Outreach
Biological Safety
Notebook & Parts

A TOUR OF THE UNIVERSITY OF CALGARY iGEM TEAM


We have reached the seventh and final stop of our tour of the the University of Calgary iGEM team wiki. Human practices this year took on the challenge of interacting with all different levels and groups of the local Calgary community. Through fundraising we were able to target the local corporate network. Ethics introduced a novel approach to examining ethical implications of Synthetic Biology. Meanwhile marketing raised the visibility of iGEM as a premiere education program through our media coverage. Additionally our educational outreach activities were instrumental in promoting synthetic biology to the next generation of potential researchers!

So now that you've seen the multiple facets of our project, please click HERE to see what we've been up to recently!


THE OUTREACH, FUNDRAISING, AND ETHICS PROJECTS


'''HUMAN PRACTICES: An Overview'''

In order to form a synthetic biology community, it is very important to involve certain segments that would play a significant role in community formation. These segments include the large corporate Sector (interest lies in funding and thus more research and innovations) and the Education Sector (involvement encourages more research and development in the field). Both segments would play a critical role in sustaining the future of synthetic biology.

However, attracting interest from these two segments of our community is not an easy task. Majority of the population in these segments probably have never heard of the new field of synthetic biology. Furthermore, there has not been much done about the ethical issues surrounding synthetic biology, which could raise questions concerning the potential harms and benefits of the field. These concerns are some of the communication barriers that stand between the corporate and education sectors, and the field of synthetic biology. Although, the complete removal of these barriers is impossible, their impact of these communication barriers could be significantly reduced. This reduction in the impact could lead to greater involvement of the education corporate sectors in the field of synthetic biology.

Keeping these considerations in mind, our University of Calgary iGEM team tailored its approach towards the human practices aspect of our project in a way that would try to reduce the impact of these communication barriers and therefore would lead to greater involvement of the education and corporate sectors in the field of synthetic biology. And as mentioned above, these segments would play a pivotal role in the formation of a synthetic biology community. In order to increase the impact of our human practices approach, we divided our human practices team into three areas namely ethics, marketing and, education and outreach. Each area would have its own individual focus but in the end, their goal would be the same and that is to work towards the formation of a synthetic biology community. Our University of Calgary iGEM team strongly believes that it is very important for these three areas to interact with each other because all areas are related to each in some way or the other. Since the formation of a synthetic biology community was our University of Calgary iGEM team’s long term goal, we assigned each area specific short term goals and milestones that would be accomplished before the iGEM Jamboree. The following is a brief summary of the goals of the three areas of our Human Practices aspect of our project:

ETHICS

The University of Calgary iGEM ethics team focused on two major components this year: 1) Written Paper 2) Ethics Conference The written paper examined the varying issues that surround the emerging field of synthetic biology. The main areas that we focused on are environmental, encomic ethical, legal and social issues that arise in synthetic biology. Some of these issues include:

* What beneficial and dentrimental effects can result from these biological developments. For example, if a biological approach is taken in the oil and gas industry, what kind of environmental and economical effect will this decision lead to?

* What kind of ethical isssues arise from this new emerging field?

* Should these biological circuits be patented? What governing structure should society have for monitoring these developments?

The issues above just highlight some of the issues our team decided to explore. The ethics conference was held in Second Life. The public can now contribute and express their concerns and opinions regarding the issues that surround synthetic biology. Our Second Life project is intended to provide an educational platform for molecular and synthetic biology. By holding an ethics conference in SL, we hope that the public is better informed of the issues that surround biology. This will also be a creative format to explore issues and allow the open discussion of ethics.



'''OUTREACH'''

The University of Calgary iGEM outreach team had a main focus of raising the profile of synthetic biology in Alberta. Our goal was to expose the public to not only the University of Calgary iGEM project and competition but also synthetic biology as a general topic as well. is in charge of getting our message out to the public. This will ensure the continual growth of synthetic biology especially in Alberta. This year, we raise the awareness of synthetic biology in Alberta by:

* Created informative sessions for high school students: Exposure to these young minds can help promote the field of synthetic biology and have potential candidates in future research in these fields.

* Summer Camp for high school students: This camp was aimed to expose high school students to the work that goes behind molecular biology research. Some of the activities that the students are able to perform are PCRs, Restriction Digest, Gel Electrophoresis, Cloning, etc. Not only do they gain a general understanding of molecular biology, but they also get exposed to the work that the University of Calgary is involved with.

* Campus Fair at the University of Calgary: People with varying ages attended this fair. Our main goal for this event was to expose synthetic biology to Albertans, particularly the project that we are involved with this year. We created some fun activities (pipetting contest, artistic bacterial construction) for the younger crowd. For the older audience, we exposed them to the University of Calgary iGEM project and explained to them about what we do as a team. This will in hope provoke some interests in this field, for the continual growth of synthetic biology in Alberta.

* Collaboative project with UChicago: Both teams aim to create an outreach kit future iGEM teams in the competition.
Ethics

To examine the ethical issues surrounding the synthetic biology and our project, we wrote an Essay that aimed to analyze the perspectives of the supporters and the critics of synthetic biology using the precautionary and the pro-actionary framework. The essay also examines the ethical issues surrounding synthetic biology and quorum sensing by using the E3LS system, which is an acronym for environmental, ethical, economical, legal and social issues.

We also suggested an Ethics Conference that would be held in the online virtual world of Second Life ™. This suggestion would be a future direction that our University of Calgary iGEM team could use for its future projects. The conference would invite guests, who would have some background on synthetic biology and the iGEM competition, and discuss with them some of the important issues surrounding synthetic biology.

Marketing

The goals of our marketing team included attracting the corporate sector’s interest in synthetic biology, iGEM and our project, and raising sustainable amount of funds for our University of Calgary iGEM team. We commenced our marketing campaign by writing up a business plan that highlighted our project description for 2009 and our goals and milestones that we hope to achieve.

We also organized a sponsorship package that highlighted the past achievements and accomplishments of our previous University of Calgary iGEM teams and also gave a description of our 2009 University of Calgary iGEM project.

Our University of Calgary iGEM team was able to raise more than $100,000 dollars for our project this year. Our sponsors range from several departments from the University of Calgary to research and development, and oil and gas companies.

Retrieved from "http://2009.igem.org/Team:Calgary/Human_Practices"