Team:Edinburgh/Human Practices

Human Practices

In an industry such as waste treatment, there is no doubt of the global applications. Almost every country has some kind of factory or waste producing business that could benefit from treatment. In order to reach that global environment, we must start at the local level. In Scotland, as in other countries, there are already certain chemical treatments in place that may precipitate the contaminant, but these can be expensive and do not do anything special with the waste. What we aim to do is not just remove this contaminant, but also use it to make a useful product.

Our system would fit like a puzzle piece into the current industrial settings as an add-on to the already existing factory. In Scotland, there are three main industries that could be easily targeted for our waste treatment: textile, leather, and whisky. While investigating these particular businesses, we visited a whisky distillery to see how our treatment option might fit in, which you can find more information about here.

As the vote on Scottish independence grows nearer, a scrutinising look at the proposed economy must be looked at. An ever expanding industry in Scotland is in the life sciences, which, unlike the Aberdeen oil industry, will continue to increase as new innovations are made. This is based on the premise that the life sciences industry is not tied down to a shrinking supply of some element or compound, but it is only limited by imagination and funding. The creation of this system would further move to promote and develop the life sciences because of its potential growth; both locally and globally.

We are all very happy to have become members of an iGEM team, but many bright people around the world and even in Edinburgh are unaware of this amazing competition or of Synthetic Biology and Genetic Engineering at all. This is why we looked for as many opportunities to present these concepts to the target audience of other well-educated students, from diverse scientific backgrounds and nationalities.