1. From the Ivory Towers to the Masses www.bic.org.my Mahaletchumy Arujanan Executive Director Malaysian Biotechnology Information Centre

2. www.bic.org.my

3. “You don’t really understand something unless you can explain it to your grandmother” - Albert Einstein

4. Importance of being understood © Sidney Harris

5. www.bic.org.my 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

6. www.bic.org.my Biotech is:

7. www.bic.org.my

10. Science in books

11. Science in movies…

12. A Non-Traditional Approach www.bic.org.my

13. 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

14. www.bic.org.my MyBio Carnival 2010 BioWonders Exhibition

15. www.bic.org.my School Competitions Debate

16. www.bic.org.my School Competitions BioQuiz BioSpelling

17. www.bic.org.my Poster Drawing

18. www.bic.org.my Poster Drawing

19. www.bic.org.my Fashion Show

20. www.bic.org.my 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

21. www.bic.org.my “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

22. 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 new terms 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 in my mind have I ever thought that the two could merge.” – Fashion designer www.bic.org.my

23. Media Coverage www.bic.org.my – 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

24. Media Coverage: www.bic.org.my

25. The Petri Dish – Monthly Biotech Newspaper – Free newspaper – Distributed to Universities, RIs, Ministries,Gov agencies, Schools, Industry www.bic.org.my

26. 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, MARDI www.bic.org.my

27. www.bic.org.my Teachers & Biotech Biotechnology Workshop for teachers Strong support from MOE Throughout Malaysia Engagement of Public Universities and Research Institutes Create science communicators among researchers

28. www.bic.org.my 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

29. www.bic.org.my