CRISPR Cas9

Based on Jennifer Doudna’s TedTalk on the question of whether the CRISPR Cas9 method, which she co-developed, should be pursued further insofar as it will soon find its way into our everyday medical lives, I came up withe the idea to create a campaign. It should not only appeal to scientists and experts, but also to people who have not yet come to understand the possibilities of the method. In this way, moral aspects are illuminated and assessed by a broad mass of people, away from the usual scientific debate. This should give a new, additional perspective to the considerations of which use of scientific achievements is appropriate.

The social media campaign is the core of the campaign to promote voting. The posts either illustrate facts about the topic or directly invite viewers to vote on the website. The informal, image-heavy presentation enables a quick, accessible introduction to the topic and is intended to motivate as diverse an audience as possible to vote. This generates a picture of the mood outside the expert bubble and help to decide which way to go, when it comes to develeping the technology.

The Logo represents both opinions, symbolised by two hearts, as well as a DNA string

The first illustration shows two hearts symbolising the two ways of voting – in favour or against the further development of CRISPR. The next graphic shows the same silhouette, except now the DNA strand resulting from the arcs of the hearts is highlighted. In the third stage, part of the line is removed, representing how the technology works: The targeted deletion of DNA sections. In the last step, the word mark is integrated into the figurative mark.