Comics as a tool for teaching biotechnology in primary schools

More and more, the biotechnology will be important in everybody's life.People will have to be informed and educated on this subject in order to take more conscious and informed choices.Formal and informal education and information programs in biotechnology are already a pressing need to serve a high variable number of beneficiaries as farmers associations, the agribusiness sector, governmental and non-governmental institutions, consumers and the general public, the media, policy makers, non-biotechnology academics, religious organizations and students, including primary schools children.Within this context and as a key element, the children -who will make the decisions and choose the technologies to be used in the future -has to be prioritized in any program of biotechnology education.Today, the children, not differently of what has been happening with adults, hear a lot about biotechnology, genetically modified organisms and transgenic plants per se without pedagogic oriented and science appropriated explanations.In general they don't have access to education radio or TV programs suited for their level of understanding and learning, fact that produces some confusion associated to, as in the case of Brazil, a negative perception or even rejection about the biotechnology or its use related to food, health and environment.Very probably, due to this lack of knowledge and information, this confusion is perpetuated.Frequently, the adults in charge of the children education have some difficulties in explaining to the children all these concepts or also don't understand very well the subject.Once out of school, there are few opportunities for adults who do not work in the scientific field to learn about biotechnology, that in general is unknown and uses a language a bit complicated for not experienced people.In this setting, the school and the teacher -in their role as educators -should play a fundamental part.