Team:Virginia/Human Practices Overview

From 2013.igem.org

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<p> <p style="text-indent: 5em;">Even a miracle drug that cures all cancers, bacteria that clear plaque from coronary arteries and viruses that amend errors in the human genome mean nothing if they cannot be administered in a safe and non-toxic manner. Because of this concern, it is imperative for ambitious synthetic biologists and IGEM teams to first address this issue of safety. Many promising treatments fall short when put to the test in vivo due to one or more issues with any of the following: toxicity, poor pharmacokinetics and ineffective delivery. For these reasons, there is a significant need for versatile delivery vehicles capable of carrying therapies to select targets while minimizing adverse side effects. Such vectors could render those common hindrances inconsequential, offering new hope to a myriad of abandoned drugs and improving the efficacy of future ones.  </p>
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<p> <p style="text-indent: 5em;">Our team made a significant effort to not only focus on our work in the lab, but also concentrate on our contributions to and considerations of the human practices and ethical aspects of synthetic biology. Over the course of the summer, we filmed a mini-documentary, critically evaluated the advantaged of minicells over liposomes, and developed a high school workshop series.  </p>
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<p><p style="text-indent: 5em;">This year, Team Virginia sought to develop a safe and modular E. coli delivery-chassis that could be easily incorporated into a variety of other projects, making the many advantages listed above widely available. Our initial investigation led us to a forgotten discovery from the 1950’s—the bacterial minicell. Originally looked into for their potential as safer vaccines, minicell research dwindled over time due to lagging microbiological and genetic technology. While largely neglected for decades, minicells are only now resurfacing, in the wake of the recent, explosive growth of the modern biotechnology industry. As an intermediate between artificially constructed liposomes and live bacteria,a minicell captures the best qualities of both existing platforms, while lacking many of their worst features. Without a doubt, minicells are poised to become a game-changing vehicle for novel therapies.</p>  
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<p>See the links to the following in our Human Practices Menu:</p>
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<p> <p style="text-indent: 5em;"><u>Public Perception</u> – In a short documentary, we interviewed three experts in biology, medicine and bioethics and explored topics in biosafety, ownership in synthetic biology, and the potential impacts of our minicell research. Also available on this page in the 2013 Basic Safety Form, which we consulted with the UVa Environmental Health & Safety Department to successfully complete. </p>
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<p> <p style="text-indent: 5em;"><u>Relevance</u> – In this section, we critically evaluated the advantaged conferred by minicells over liposomes. By extensively consulting the available literature and through our own research, we found that minicells offer a significant advantage over liposomes through increased stability, increased half-life, and a reduced leakage of cytosolic elements. We believe this has significant human practices applications as minicells will offer a more accessible and safer alternative to liposomal applications.  </p>
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<p> <p style="text-indent: 5em;"><u>Outreach</u> – This fall, we partnered with Renaissance High School in Charlottesville, VA to offer a comprehensive 6-workshop curriculum to students. Our goal was to develop a workshop series that may be implemented by any iGEM team in order to foster the development of high school iGEM teams. Links to all materials used for the workshop, including a syllabus, instructor notes, PowerPoints, interactive activities and recommended readings are available on this page.   </p>
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Revision as of 00:27, 28 September 2013

VGEM Welcomes You!

Our team made a significant effort to not only focus on our work in the lab, but also concentrate on our contributions to and considerations of the human practices and ethical aspects of synthetic biology. Over the course of the summer, we filmed a mini-documentary, critically evaluated the advantaged of minicells over liposomes, and developed a high school workshop series.

See the links to the following in our Human Practices Menu:

Public Perception – In a short documentary, we interviewed three experts in biology, medicine and bioethics and explored topics in biosafety, ownership in synthetic biology, and the potential impacts of our minicell research. Also available on this page in the 2013 Basic Safety Form, which we consulted with the UVa Environmental Health & Safety Department to successfully complete.

Relevance – In this section, we critically evaluated the advantaged conferred by minicells over liposomes. By extensively consulting the available literature and through our own research, we found that minicells offer a significant advantage over liposomes through increased stability, increased half-life, and a reduced leakage of cytosolic elements. We believe this has significant human practices applications as minicells will offer a more accessible and safer alternative to liposomal applications.

Outreach – This fall, we partnered with Renaissance High School in Charlottesville, VA to offer a comprehensive 6-workshop curriculum to students. Our goal was to develop a workshop series that may be implemented by any iGEM team in order to foster the development of high school iGEM teams. Links to all materials used for the workshop, including a syllabus, instructor notes, PowerPoints, interactive activities and recommended readings are available on this page.

 

Contact

Questions? Comments? Email us at virginia.igem@gmail.com

 

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