Team:HKU-Hong Kong/humanpractice

Objectives

Hong Kong is deemed to be lagging behind in the field of scientific research and we believe this is because few teenagers want to become researchers once they graduate. Therefore, our team has launched a series of human practice activities with the aim of introducing the public to what synthetic biology is, and its unlimited potential to improve our living standard. We also aim to show local high school students the appealing side of biotechnology, in the hope that they will be inspired to pursue a career in related fields. Through our promotional campaigns, we have also addressed the public’s concern towards safety and ethical issues of genetic engineering.

Our Human Practice Initiatives

School Visits

School visits were conducted in Valtorta College, Maryknoll Convent School and St. Paul’s Secondary School to introduce synthetic biology to high school students. Our explanation of synthetic biology was brief in order to accommodate their lack of knowledge in this area, and we placed more emphasis and focus on entailing safety and ethical issues instead. Students were encouraged to think critically about the pros and cons of biotechnology.

Students were very attentive during the sessions, and from their feedback, we can conclude that there was a general interest towards our project and synthetic biology, but due to the perceived uncertainty of being a scientist in Hong Kong, they remain hesitant in choosing a career path in research. Having known more about our exciting iGEM project, the students were inspired to explorethe field of genetic engineering.

The University of Hong Kong Information Day

Targeted at prospective HKU undergraduates, we will set up a booth on campus during our university’s information day. There will be an exhibition of iGEM’s history and the HKU team’s contribution towards the competition. Groups of high school students will visit the booth and it is a chance for us to attract passionate students and pass on the iGEM torch.

Promotional Video

Adopting the filming style of a recent blockbuster, Inception, we have shot a promotional video to let everyone have a glimpse of our lab work. This has been shared with our friends via Facebook and Youtube. The video will also be broadcast in campus on our campus TV to draw the attention of our peers to what we are working on. Our video has received good comments so far, which means we have successfully made iGEM an interesting topic of conversation in our community!

Visit [http://www.youtube.com/user/hkuigem2010 our official youtube channel] for more!