BioSin UFMG Club: Engaging a multilevel and multidisciplinary community in synthetic biology

Abstract

Learning synthetic biology is often seen as a far distant possibility, restricted to those who have the privilege of an academic career. We propose a student‐centered discussion group around synthetic biology, aimed at people from high school onwards with different backgrounds to interact and learn about synthetic biology. We developed a 14‐week long program with three modules: “Leveling,” “Introducing,” and “Discussion.” By completing the first two modules, the members should be more comfortable with biological names, structures, concepts, and techniques. The modules developed are available in Portuguese, Spanish, and English via the Open Lab Idea Real website (https://ideareal.org/clube-de-biologia-sintetica/) and can be used to implement the Club either in place or virtually around the world. We put it to practice at Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais (UFMG) creating the Club named BioSin. There are programs such as the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition focused on disseminating synthetic biology. Although iGEM is one fantastic way of learning about synthetic biology, there is a high cost. Because of that, a study and discussion Club is a tool to spread knowledge and engage with the study area.