Don't Switch the Channel Just Yet: Audience Still Growing for Ontario Genomics Institute's ReGenesis Outreach Program 

Its fourth and final season aired last year, but Canadian-made television biotech drama ReGenesis lives on in global syndication and DVD release - which means a growing audience for the Ontario Genomics Institute's companion online outreach program. 

Could bio-terrorists create synthetic smallpox? Is there such a thing as brain-eating bacteria? Can humans be cloned?

These were just a few of the spine-tingling questions raised by Canadian biotech drama ReGenesis during its four-season run from 2004 to 2008. Starring Peter Outerbridge as molecular biologist David Sandström, the series trails the investigations of a team of scientists from the fictional North American Biotechnology Advisory Commission ("NorBAC") as they apply their combined brain power to combat global biological threats.

ReGenesis may have come to an end, but the series continues to draw viewers. In syndication since 2007, the award-winning sci-fi hit has now aired in more than 115 countries. In late 2008, Season 1 was released in North America on DVD by Koch Vision in a four-disc, letterboxed set. Producer Shaftesbury Films has confirmed that Seasons 2, 3 and 4 will follow through 2009 and 2010.

This growing popularity means more visitors to the Ontario Genomics Institute's innovative online outreach program: a series of educational fact sheets created in collaboration with Shaftesbury Films that help viewers understand the science behind the show and delve into some of the social and ethical questions it raises.

Published on OGI's website, The Facts Behind the Fiction analyzes, episode by episode, what's scientifically plausible or implausible. Starting in season 3, OGI introduced the idea of a second companion piece called, ReGenesis: Science & Society, to explore some of the thorny ethical and social quandaries sparked by the show's content.

"We pitched the idea to Shaftesbury between Seasons 2 and 3, and they loved the idea, so when season 3 began, so too did OGI's ReGenesis: Science & Society," says Shane Green, OGI's Director of Outreach. Green went on to write most of the Science & Society pieces for the third season and recruited GE3LS researchers to write the remaining. 

At the end of every episode, viewers are directed to the ReGenesis website. To connect to the accompanying educational materials, curious visitors simply have to click on "Get the Facts Behind the Fiction" and they get automatically redirected to OGI's website where they get access to both the scientific facts sheets, as well as the GE3LS related discussion pieces.

"We were pleasantly surprised by the number of hits we got. When an episode [of ReGenesis] would air on TV, we had more traffic coming from the ReGenesis website than from any other source," says Dr. Christian Burks, OGI's CEO.

According to OGI, from September 2006 to February 2009, 25,571 visitors connected to OGI's fact sheets via the ReGenesis website. The DVD box set includes OGI's fact sheets as part of a "Special Features" section.

"The arts are a powerful medium that can communicate in a very different dimension and open doors to a broader demographic," Burks adds. "Citizens of today are being asked to evaluate this new science and make some very responsible decisions. The series raises some tough questions. Our companion pieces - the Facts Behind the Fiction and Science & Society - are one way that people can become more informed and start to ask 'should we or shouldn't we?'