Overview
As a member of an association whose main focus is synthetic biology, it is important to promote this practice and educate the public about this vast field, which may seem complex from a distance but is so fascinating when you look into it.
That's why we've implemented several ways to educate and reach as many people as possible about synthetic biology and introduce them to the IGEM competition by inspiring other students
For our team, education is not a one-way street. We believe that to shape the future of synthetic biology, open, two-way dialogue with society starting with the next generation is very important. Our educational approach has been designed not only to teach but also to listen and learn.
Engaging the Next Generation
We recognized that synthetic biology can seem abstract and intimidating. Our goal was to make it accessible and spark critical thinking
Synthetic biology is a subject that is rarely discussed outside of scientific circles in universities or the professional world. That is why it is important to highlight this practice, particularly among young people who are eager to learn and wondering about their future.
We designed a workshop with teachers so that interested high school students could meet and talk with us. We based it on interactive learning. It was structured in three parts :
Introduction with a Kahoot! quiz: a fun quiz in the form of a game to assess prior knowledge and break the ice.
Interactive presentation : instead of a lecture, we used our “Living Scaffolds” project as a concrete case study to explain the fundamental concepts of synthetic biology. We took frequent breaks for Q&A and discussions on ethics and potential impacts.
Debate session: We divided the students into groups to debate a statement such as “Should we use modified bacteria to treat human diseases?” This forced them to apply their new knowledge, consider different points of view, and clearly express their opinions.
This also allowed us to share our experiences in the laboratory and in university studies through open discussions. And high school students are an ideal audience for inspiring the next generation of scientists.
At Sevigné Hightschool
At Jean Perrin Hightschool
Impact on them
These discussions and presentations allowed these high school students to discover that it is possible to participate in projects such as IGEM within the school setting and to impact the world even at their young age. Some felt truly motivated to learn more about the use of synthetic biology in everyday life.
An oral interview conducted before and after the workshop showed an increase in the number of students able to correctly define synthetic biology. They were much more interested in this branch of biology than before. We were very pleased to have given the new generation a genuine interest in synthetic biology.
Several students stayed after the session to ask questions about university courses, demonstrating a genuine interest in the subject.
Some results from the questionnaire with high school students :
Impact on us
These workshops were a humbling experience for us. The students' fresh perspectives challenged our assumptions. For example, their focus on the long-term environmental release of our engineered bacteria pushed us to deepen our research on biocontainment strategies for our project. This truly was a two-way dialogue.
Educational Content on Social Media
To reach a wider audience beyond our local community, we used social media not only to explain biology topics such as osteoporosis or synthetic biology, but also to give a glimpse into everyday life in the lab. Our posts highlighted funny situations, shared the realities of experimental timelines, and showed how resilience and discipline are key when facing failures (while also celebrating how much fun science can be).
Through these posts, we were able to engage the public in informal conversations about our work. Many followers asked what we were studying and how projects like ours fit into university life.
This interaction helped us make synthetic biology more visible and accessible, demystifying the lab environment and encouraging curiosity in a playful and relatable way.
By combining educational content with glimpses of real lab life, we aimed to inspire interest in science while showing that research is not only rigorous, but also creative, collaborative, and enjoyable.