I am a newbie at this!

Anyways I am jumping in to share a recent experience. I was at this dialogue cum workshop among scientists and journalists, meeting to communicate effectively. Didn’t have the slightest clue that it was an elephant task for both parties. They had no idea what was required of each other to make science stories perky and fun! No wonder kids these days have little love for the subject.

When you ask if journalists would like to pen a science story exactly when Kate Middleton and her gorgeous blue-eyed hubby are in town, they would rather clamber over each other to cover the royalties!  Why? It is all about what readers want!

Scientists were surprised at how journalists viewed them……boring and full of scientific jargon. But it is not an easy task to simply scientific research. One science writer puts it this way, “if my grandmother understand how you explain a science topic, then, the general public will be able to decipher the topic!”

How do scientists get a hang of it: Practice and sheer perseverance.

It was reality time as a panel of scientists, journalists and science communicators sat down to deliberate on how to report on science, zeroing into agriculture biotechnology. Everyone had fun as the realisation set in. Many began to shed their coyness and share their thoughts. Scientists realised that messages need to be simply and accurately written supported by illustrations and charts. This makes it easier on the media writers.

One suggestion from a senior editor: Create celebrities among scientists. (Hey, then we might have paparazzi going after our scientists. And that would be the day…)

Arising from this workshop will be a document on Best Practices in Communicating Agricultural Biotechnology. It will help both the scientists and journalists on how best to communicate science.

By Christina Stephensons 

I am a *Spartan Now

Last month I had a chance to attend the Science and Technology Communication Course, courtesy of Chocrane Fellowship Programme. The venue was the Michigan State University in East Lansing, Michigan. It was a great week, listening to experts from various fields of communication talking about journalistic practices, developing articles and press releases, risk assessment, social media and ethics - and not to mention interacting with other participants who came from many parts of the world.

I must say the course was an excellent idea to nurture science communicators. As science progresses, more issues of public concern will grow. Biotechnology especially GM technology has already created fears and apprehensions. The recent paper by Seralini linking GM corn to cancer showed us how unscientific information could create fear among the public and regulators.

The role of scientists and reporters in the area of public information and education will increase as science advances and new science emerge. Nurturing and creating science communicators is instrumental and ignoring this will be at our own peril.

One of the speakers pointed out that the problem for the scientist as a public communicator is the language that could almost have been devised to conceal information. Scientist must learn to say the simplest things.

I was amazed when Dr Prakash, the founder of AgBioWorld shared a definition of GM technology by Dr Jonathan Jones :

      "Adding a new gene is like adding an app in your iPhone - it just adds a function but it is still an iPhone."

You can relate, can't you?

                                                     We are Spartans!


*Spartan is a term used for MSU alumni.


By Shamira Shamsuddin

BioMalaysia

It’s that time of the year again and BioMalaysia rolls around for the Malaysian biotech industry to showcase the progress being made in the country.

This year’s edition comes with a twist as the conference is bundled together with the BIO Pacific Rim Summity on Industrial Biotechnology and Bioenergy 2011, a prestigious international event by the Biotechnology Industry Organization (BIO).

This is the first time the Pac Rim Summit is being held outside of North America.

The conference kicked off with a bang as our Prime Minister Dato’ Sri Najib Tun Razak highlighted the potential of the Bioeconomy (newly coined buzzword) in Malaysia.

The other key announcement, which quite seems to be quite starkly carried over from the World Congress on Industrial Biotechnology in Toronto this year, is the National Biomass Strategy, which seems to be the answer to the world’s cry for sustainable biomass to be produced and supplied to the world to produce renewable energy.

As Malaysia hopes to leverage on the miles and miles of palm oil plantations, there’s a belief that this could be the next big thing for wealth creation in Malaysia.

Other interesting items on the agenda were the sessions on the use of microalgae for generating biofuels, as well as discussions on food security.

Malaysia has also been busy enhancing services for conventional agriculture through the establishment of the Centre for Marker Development and Validation.

This centre utilizes proprietary technology to assist conventional breeders in identifying and selecting hybrids for commercial purposes. The centre is based in the Malaysian Agricultural Research and Development Institution.

2nd National Intervarsity Biotechnology Debate Competition!

After last year’s successful Intervarsity Biotechnology Debate Competition, the 2011 edition was held in AIMST University, all the way up in Semeling, just outside of Sungai Petani in Kedah.

Besides having the chance to visit AIMST’s gorgeous campus, it was also a good eye-opener into the world of debating, something not many science types are aware of.

The intervarsity debate scene in Malaysia is very much its own subculture with a variety of students from different backgrounds (mainly LAW but also literature, medicine, dentistry, actuarial science and what not).

This competition was a great avenue to expose non-science students to the intricacies of biotech-related issues and controversies surrounding the industry.

Additionally, it was a chance for students to mingle and get to know their counterparts from different universities over the quick fire British Parliamentary style debates.

The quality of the debaters was very impressive and renewed a lot of confidence in the visitors (yours truly) of the quality of our graduates.

A quick word goes out to Tiffeny and the rest of the organizers for a job very well done as well!

Reaching the Grassroots

MABIC was given the opportunity to reach out to Form Three students in Sri Dasmesh, a private school, recently to talk about the opportunities that come from studying biology.

We were asked to come in as the teachers were concerned about an increasing trend among students to drop biology in Form Four.

This was due to students believing that biology was merely memorizing facts and regurgitating it during the exam.

So from the get go, we had an uphill task ahead of us.

It’s always an interesting experience going to schools to build interest in science, because that’s truly where the rubber meets the road.

Having been doing this for a few months now, there’s nothing more hard-hitting than when you are standing in front of 15 year olds, trying to convince them that life sciences is worth their attention.

It’s a whole other challenge to speaking to university students or PhD candidates, where facts, numbers, policies and abstract designs hold value and are relatable.

Truly, when communicating with those who are taking baby steps into science, the key is to communicate essence of science and the reason for technology.

It’s interesting that in GCE A-levels, in Biology in the American syllabus, and in first year university, the first lecture is always a quick study in the philosophy behind the life sciences and biology.

Nonetheless, I do work for a not-for-profit, so I have every right to be idealistic. J

Anyway, back to the story, we managed to get the students pretty excited especially after a quick play with DNA in the lab. We are heading back to Sri Dasmesh to speak to the teachers in Dec!

Communicating Agribiotech in Muslim Countries

Welcome to the rebooting of the Malaysia4biotech blog!

Things have been pretty intense here in MABIC as we steady the Petri Dish ship. Our national holidays have given us some interesting challenges as we squeezed out the past few issues.

September was best remembered for a workhop we conducted in the island of Langkawi regarding communicating agribiotechnology in Muslim countries.

Langkawi because:

We could take advantage of some low peak rates.

We could provide a welcome respite from the hustle and bustle of the city

Chocolates! (Among other things J

We could show off Malaysia’s inherent biodiversity to our guests.

This was a natural progression from our Ulama workshop held last year and gave us an opportunity to sit down with some of the top science communicators in the Muslim world to talk about their experiences, challenges and pleasant surprises.

We had delegates from (from West to East): Egypt, Uganda, Iran, Pakistan, Bangladesh, China, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, and the Philippines.

Conclusions were that:

· Islam supports the scientific innovations and human endeavours.

· Both scientists and Ulama have been supportive of the development and use of modern biotechnology for human welfare.

· Science communication is a crucial component of the process of technology acceptance and adoption.

The recommendations put forward through the workshop included:

· Foster the appreciation of science in journalists and train scientists to engage the media.

· Empower and engage farmers through farmer organizations.

· Produce simplified information on modern biotechnology in local languages through the relevant medium.

· Update and promote understanding of modern biotechnology among Islamic scholars.

· Identify and nurture media champions from the various stakeholders.

All in all, an amazing time of brainstorming, learning, fist wringing, and reflection on the importance of air-conditioning (especially how sweaty things get when it breaks down before a full day of workshop... grumble).