ChiTownBio is dedicated to putting the knowledge, skills, and tools of biotechnology into the hands of all Chicagoans who want to explore the living world and use it to benefit our community.
It’s been a long time since I wrote anything for our blog, and it’s time that I reintroduce our mission. We’ve been struggling to build a community here in Chicago, and that may be that we’ve been going about this all wrong.
Community biology is a subset of citizen science where anyone, after some basic training in technique, safety, and ethics, can enter a space run by scientists and citizens alike in order to tinker with living organisms, gain hands-on experience with biotechnology, and interact with experts and amateurs alike in order to help shape the future of biological research and the way we as a society integrate it into our everyday lives. We are inspired by labs across the country like Genspace, Biocurious, Baltimore Underground Science Space, The Counter Culture Labs, Sound Bio, and many more, but we realized that these spaces have been sustained on the coast, but have left the heart of our great country without the same tools and resources. In 2017, a group of scientists of varying training and skill levels conceived of ChiTownBio, and started working to bring this into reality.
Over the last few years, we have run demonstrations, hosted hands-on activities, worked at creating meaningful programming, conversed with experts in public forums, and a host of other activities trying to interact with the community. But the missing part of the community lab experience has always been the lab itself. In the coming months, we plan to gain a lab space, and begin conducting online training sessions, host virtual events, and interact with Chicago from afar as we transition to new means of laboratory experiences in the world of a global pandemic. We are planning all this while redoubling our efforts to boost science communication, expand our partners, and integrate ourselves better in the community so that we can expand our reach to those who need us the most.
Science is under attack. We see more confusion from our leaders regarding basic truths, misinformation hurting our communities, and basic steps towards a healthy and safe future fading away in a sea of doubt. We believe the easiest way to get everyone to understand that science impacts all of our lives is to prove to that everyone belongs within our community, that science needs public discourse and understanding, and that they are welcome to explore, design, experiment, and lead not just in the lab, but in our city and our country. We are dedicated to building that place for everyone, regardless of means, initial training, or hesitation. Everyone belongs here.
We are not going to be doing this alone. Please write us at chitownbio [at] gmail [dot] com so we can add you to our Slack, a lively message board where a number of Chicagoans share opportunities, discuss recent findings and articles, and plan our future. You can also follow us on social media under the handle ChiTownBio. I am often updating our Twitter account, and would love to hear from you and interact. In the interim, please feel free to keep checking this blog, as we’ll be updating it more and more in the coming weeks as we document our transformation from a mission and a vision to a space where we all can become leaders in the biotechnologies of tomorrow.