Team:Groningen/Animations
This year, the iGEM competition was something that nobody had ever experienced before. In-person activities became impossible and we switched to virtual alternatives for all our events throughout the year. We realized that in order to engage the people within and outside iGEM, we had to come up with new ways of communication. What better way to do this than by making animations?
We made an initiative to combine our forces with a team of three motivated art students: Aleksander Gajda, Arne Hellwege and Job de Lange. Their skillset is different from a typical iGEM student: they studied cinematography, product and graphic design, and creating visual art. However, their passion for visualizing the world in a new perspective using 3D animations fits perfect with an iGEM project. iGEM is not only about finding new ways of using SynBio to improve the world, but also about knowing how to explain it to the people around you.
The first challenge they faced was the lack of any scientific background and the understanding of biological principles. We engaged in many discussions, teaching them everything, from what bacteria looks like, to how the synaptic communication in humans works. But we also learned from them about how to communicate and visualize the different aspects of our project in an understandable way.
Alex Gajda
Job de Lange
Arne Hellwege
On the 25th of September we proudly presented our 2-minute promotional video. It first draws the attention of the viewer to the global nematode problem, followed by introducing RootPatch, a more sustainable and environmentally friendly solution. With our coordinated efforts we managed to bring our scientific vision and concepts to the screen in a visually appealing format.
3D animations are harder and more time consuming than the usual 2D animations, but the outcome is worth it. It has been trending on iGEM PeerTube portal for weeks now and has already been featured in Biotechnologie.nl blog of NEMO Kennislink, the biggest science museum in the Netherlands.
Check out the promotion video they made!
In addition, the art team was involved in the creation of numerous animations to capture various scientific concepts (e.g., neuronal networks and genetic circuitry). These animations were used as a support to our 20-minute presentation and the online lesson series for the DNA-dialogue
Look at the short videos below to get an idea about their work for the upcoming video!
We are very proud of this collaboration and we encourage other teams in the future to do the same. Combining the world of science and art may not only help the communication between science and the public, but between scientists as well.