This year the target of our community section is to inform the public about the potentials of synthetic biology. From preliminary assessments iGEM Calgary has discovered that the major outlet of synthetic biology news usually comes from misinformed media sources. Although there are some great sources such as the 2009 New Yorker article titled “A Life if it’s Own”, there are numerous other articles that fail to capture the true understanding of what synthetic biology actually entails. Because of this iGEM Calgary has decided to appeal to one of the most cost effective and efficient method of how the word of synthetic biology could be spread, by creating a series of podcasts. In addition, several members on the team have given seminars in high schools around Calgary as well as appear in a local newspaper.

In terms of looking at the ethics of the 2010 project, Raida Khwaja has written a paper regarding the political, social and economic implications of the protein expression toolkit.