AiSBno2bstorm

This page is for brainstorming ideas about plot, characters, imagery and anything else related to the Adventures in Synthetic Biology comic series. Add whatever you like; all useful contributions will be used / acknowledged.

General Ideas

• Depict challenge of making a new part. say something about how f*$king hard synthetic biology is right now
• Revisit societal issues
• Expand cultural and morphological diversity of characters
• Explain biology to engineers (the previous comic seemed to assume some knowledge of biology and explained engineering concepts) --RS
  • But, didn't the entire first chapter and description of parts on the whiteboard do this? Or, what was missing?
• How about some stuff from the point of view of the bacteria blob? There could be 2 points of view: one that they are quickly getting new functionality that they would never have had (so happy bacteria), and one that all they want to do is survive, not blink (depict a microbial scale conflict between the synthetic biologist and the living world). --Austin
• Explain the technology at the foundation of synthetic biology, esp. DNA synthesis. --Austin
• Bring in some real applications that exist now, for example making drugs. Whereas previously pharmas could do this, we're getting to the point people can do this at home. --Austin

Plot Ideas

• Seems like last time the adventures were motivated by limits in the available technology. Next time around they could use a nemesis or two or three. Classic comic heroes are often misunderstood in the press, get targeted by evil mutants trying to destroy the world (starting with our favorite superhero), and many times the heroes themselves are internally conflicted when using their superhuman powers since their secret identity may endanger loved ones. What about a world crisis that only Synthetic Biology can solve? Any chance we can save the planet or the universe?-- Natalie
  • Be careful not to make the nemesis someone who is using SB for evil. Maybe the nemesis could be someone who doesn't appreciate the importance of science or understand how it impacts their lives. Perhaps Intelligent design Ida or Budget-cutting Bertha.--Kathleen

Character Ideas

• Introduce a synthetic biology skeptic character. It'd make for some interesting dialogue. --Austin
  • How about "Devil's Advocate Debbie" or "Questioning Quinn"?--Kathleen
• Reveal whether or not System Sally has human eyes?
  • Maybe she can be an X-men-type character with eyes that can see inside cells, actually watching SB systems in action (could be useful to demonstrate important ideas in the future...). She needs the glasses to filter out her "DNA vision"?--Kathleen
  • I'm not sure any sort connection (even implied) with X-men would be very helpful. Having humans with superpowers implies that we are trying to go towards genetically engineering ourselves to be X-men. --Austin