Team:BIOTEC Dresden/Outreach v2

In our community outreach program we cooperated with a local high school – the St. Benno-Gymnasium Dresden – and invited a group of 13 students aged 11 to 18 to our iGEM lab. We believe this program was beneficial for all involved. For most students this was their first contact to the profession of science. Learning about science in the setting of iGEM is fun and can motivate interested youth to develop their scientific skills. The very least we achieved is to illustrate the importance of proficient communication in English to the global citizen of tomorrow.

We encouraged our visitors to ask any questions they might have. And ask they did. The students showed a remarkable talent to inquire all essential problems of the matter. Explaining our project to them reminded us of the “big picture” and provided us with new perspectives.

Below are some reactions to the lab visit:

Hey Tomek,

It was a long time ago that we visited the biotec, but for me it was really interesting and I remember a lot of the things we saw. It was a very new view on everyday things. What can we build if we go in so little and small parts of an element? Although it impressed me to see the way how you fixed some problems like the gene-timer and stuff like that. I'm really excited to see the future development of your great idea and maybe the first usage of a technology based on your great inventions. I wish you (and your team) a very interesting and successful presentation of your stunning ideas =)

Leo Käßner

Visiting the science lab offered the rare opportunity to catch a glimpse on the practical application of what is usually dealt with in rather abstract biology lessons. Yet it was striking to see how standard procedures, such as “running a gel” that, due to a lack of facilities, can’t be executed at school, but are frequently talked about, are done. This doesn’t only include having the chance to fiddle around with expensive high-tech devices, but the researchers also made a great effort to break down their project to simple-minded high school students. Although the real-world application of a nano-factory on a chip seems far off to most of us, it is precisely the drive to research without a narrowly-fixed goal that provided an interesting insight into the philosophy of these researchers.

Richard Pollack

Fund raising in Leipzig

@@ Line 15: / Line 15: @@
 ''Hey Tomek,''
-''It was a long time ago that we visited the biotec, but for me it was really interesting and
+''It was a long time ago that we visited the biotec, but for me it was really interesting and ''
-I remember a lot of the things we saw. It was a very new view on everyday things. What
+''I remember a lot of the things we saw. It was a very new view on everyday things. What ''
-can we build if we go in so little and small parts of an element? Although it impressed
+''can we build if we go in so little and small parts of an element? Although it impressed ''
-me to see the way how you fixed some problems like the gene-timer and stuff like that.
+''me to see the way how you fixed some problems like the gene-timer and stuff like that. ''
-I'm really excited to see the future development of your great idea and maybe the first
+''I'm really excited to see the future development of your great idea and maybe the first ''
-usage of a technology based on your great inventions.''
+''usage of a technology based on your great inventions.''
-''I wish you (and your team) a very interesting and successful presentation of your
+''I wish you (and your team) a very interesting and successful presentation of your ''
-stunning ideas =)''
+''stunning ideas =)''
-''''Leo Käßner''''
+'''''Leo Käßner'''''
-''Visiting the science lab offered the rare opportunity to catch a
+''Visiting the science lab offered the rare opportunity to catch a''
-glimpse on the practical application of what is usually dealt with in
+''glimpse on the practical application of what is usually dealt with in''
-rather abstract biology lessons. Yet it was striking to see how
+''rather abstract biology lessons. Yet it was striking to see how''
-standard procedures, such as “running a gel” that, due to a lack of
+''standard procedures, such as “running a gel” that, due to a lack of''
-facilities, can’t be executed at school, but are frequently talked
+''facilities, can’t be executed at school, but are frequently talked''
-about, are done. This doesn’t only include having the chance to fiddle
+''about, are done. This doesn’t only include having the chance to fiddle''
-around with expensive high-tech devices, but the researchers also made
+''around with expensive high-tech devices, but the researchers also made''
-a great effort to break down their project to simple-minded high
+''a great effort to break down their project to simple-minded high''
-school students. Although the real-world application of a nano-factory
+''school students. Although the real-world application of a nano-factory''
-on a chip seems far off to most of us, it is precisely the drive to
+''on a chip seems far off to most of us, it is precisely the drive to''
-research without a narrowly-fixed goal that provided an interesting
+''research without a narrowly-fixed goal that provided an interesting''
-insight into the philosophy of these researchers.''
+''insight into the philosophy of these researchers.''
-''''Richard Pollack''''
+'''''Richard Pollack'''''