Synthetic Biology Dialogue Workshop

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Thursday 10 February 2011

Mercure Holland House Hotel, Bristol, BS1 6SQ

Workshop Report by Jonathan Blakes

SynBioNT delegates attended the workshop run by BBSRC, EPSRC and supported by Sciencewise to further explore the messages in the synthetic biology public dialogue and share practices for public engagement with members of the other networks.

Dr. Brian Johnson, who led the dialogue exercise, gave an overview of its remit and findings. A discussion of the recommendations made in the report regarding the role of scientists in public engagement was followed by breaking into groups to explore some key points in depth and then recombined to cross-pollinate ideas.

Members of each of the 7 synthetic biology networks gave elevator pitches describing the work they do to communicate and engage with the public and groups outside of academia.

During lunch we ran a stand presenting a poster summary of SynBioNT's activities, a selection of publications and James King's Cellularity short film.

The day finished with a vigorous discussion about how best to continue the dialogue as part of our academic practice.