from the ivory towers to the masses mahaletchumy arujanan executive director malaysian...
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From the Ivory Towers to the Masses
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Mahaletchumy ArujananExecutive Director
Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre
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“You don’t really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother”
- Albert Einstein
Importance of being understood
© Sidney Harris© Sidney Harris
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Contraints in Communicating Science/Biotechnology
• Lack of trained science communicators• Lack of support (policies, media, institutional)• No science desk at media• Pseudoscience / pseudoscientist• Public interest on science lacking• The diversity of the “publics”• Strong “green” advocates
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Biotech is:
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Science in books
Science in movies…
A Non-Traditional Approach
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MABIC in a nutshell
• Established in June 2000• Part of ISAAA and its 25 country nodes• Hosted by Monash University Malaysia• Aim – disseminate factual, accurate, science-based info to all biotech stakeholders• Create public awareness on biotechnology• Close partner to government agencies• 3-member team
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MyBio Carnival 2010
BioWondersExhibition
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School Competitions
Debate
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School Competitions
BioQuizBioSpelling
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Poster Drawing
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Poster Drawing
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Fashion Show
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• Introduced biotechnology to fashion fraternity• Fashion designers are keen to participate in
future events• Garnered media coverage• UiTM – the biggest fashion school will
introduce biotech in their syllabus
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“BioRunway definitely helped us to broaden our knowledge in the field of biotechnology. Now I can go out sharing our experiences with others”
- UiTM fashion design lecturer, Aniza Mohd Arif
Feedback:“We learned a lot (about biotechnology) and had a new topic to talk about. We had to
devote a week of preparation by doing research on the Internet prior to the debate. There’s so much information available but we have to make sure it is accurate.” – Debate Participant
“Now we know what biotechnology is and how interesting it is as a field of study. Initially. We learned about what the technology can do to improve the quality of living.” – Quiz participant
“ We learned to spell words associated with biotechnology. In addition, we got newterms needed for a better understanding of what the science is all about.” – BioSpelling
participant
“Fashion and science are seen as two extremes with no meeting points. Never inmy mind have I ever thought that the two could merge.” – Fashion designer
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Media Coverage
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– Television• Selamat Pagi
Malaysia (Malay)• Biz Malaysia
(English)• Vasantham (Tamil)• Hello On 2 (English)• Tamil News– Radio • Traxx FM (English)
Newspaper• New Straits Times (2)• The Sun Daily
News Agency
• Bernama News
Media Coverage:
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The Petri Dish
• The Petri Dish– Monthly Biotech
Newspaper– Free newspaper– Distributed to Universities,
RIs, Ministries,Gov agencies, Schools, Industry
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The Petri Dish – What they say? Well done! A good start to introduce
biotech to the community- Prof. Khatijah Yusoff, Deputy Secretary General,
MOSTI Refreshing and illuminating!
- Dr. K. Harikrishna, SVP, Sime Darby
The Petri Dish is a timely publication, one that addresses the need to not only reach out to, but also to bring attention to the biotechnology industry in an accessible and easy-to-read manner
- Mr. Kandiah, IP Lawyer
Petri Dish is a very effective means of educating Biotech to the public, it always works when you it in a simple and colourful story
- Dr. Umi Kalsom, Director, MARDIwww.bic.org.my
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Teachers & Biotech Biotechnology Workshop for teachers• Strong support from MOE• Throughout Malaysia• Engagement of Public Universities and
Research Institutes• Create science communicators among
researchers
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Ulama & Biotech
Dialogues with Ulama• International Workshop for Islamic Scholars: Islam and
Agribiotechnology: Finding a common language between ulama and scientists, July 2009
• GM session during WHF, June 2009• International workshop for Islamic Scholars: Agribiotechnology:
Shariah Compliance, Dec 2010
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