Vol. 1 No. 2 (2021): SEED Journal Issue 2

In 2017 I co-led a workshop in Synthetic Biology for junior high school students in Berekuso, Ghana. The workshop’s objective was to introduce these young minds to the intriguing applications of Synthetic Biology in making the world a better place. The workshop included a discussion on DNA and a brief DNA extraction demonstration — we took them through a practical process of extracting DNA from a banana. It was amazing to experience these students’ euphoria who may not have entirely understood the information they were exposed to but were yet grateful for the novel exposure. Synthetic Biology is a budding field of study in the African context. You can imagine how difficult it was to communicate such concepts in a relatable scenario to children in a remote area with no exposure to information about genetics. In hindsight, I believe the workshop was a step in the right direction to start conversations about biological engineering at Ashesi, especially with the introduction of an allied course. In this issue, we have two exciting research papers on Synthetic Biology from students who participated in the Synthetic Biology course at Ashesi University last year. As we battle these trying pandemic times, we hope this issue will incite research interests in engineering and science-related topics like vaccine production, renewable energy development, and many others. 

“We may encounter many defeats, but we must not be defeated.” - Maya Angelou.

-Miquilina Anagbah (Editor in Chief).