Revision as of 16:38, 14 September 2015

Policy & Practices

Policy and Practices plays a central role within the iGEM competition. In the Policy and Practices aspect of our project, we considered what impact COMBs could have on the world. Therefore, we have identified three possible application scenarios. For each of our scenarios, we have reached out to stakeholders to find out which bars there are within the application scenarios and how our COMBs could play a role in clearing these bars. Rather than just identifying the challenges we should still overcome, we have set first steps by calling policy officers' attention to the problems at hand.
Policy and Practices is also about outreach and all about inclusion. Therefore, we have not only talked to policy officers and stakeholders, but also to students and lay people. We showed them the amazing promise of synthetic biology as well as the risks associated with synthetic biology. An overview of our Policy & Practices activities is shown below:

Application Scenarios

COMBs are inherently modular and the use of aptamers allows for the detection of a virtually all disease markers. To give an overview of the possibilities our COMBs offer, we sketch three application scenarios. The first application scenario concerns the zoonosis Q Fever, of which a large outbreak was reported in the Netherlands in 2007. The second application concerns the use of COMBs within the gastrointestinal tract. The third application scenario is aimed at countering pesticide overuse. Read more on our application scenarios here:

We sketch three application scenario's: use of COMBs within the intestines, to prevent Q Fever and to reduce use of pesticides.

Stakeholders

To identify which challenges are yet to be overcome within the application scenarios we envisioned, we have reached out to many stakeholders. These stakeholders include scientists, policymakers, doctors, journalists and professors. Many of the problems we sketch in each of the application scenarios are the fruits of these talks. A short overview of the conversations we had with these stakeholders is shown here:

To identify challenges which COMBs can overcome, we have reached out to many stakeholders, including jour- nalists, doctors, policymakers, scientists, and professors.

SynBio convention

The National Institute for Public Health and Environment (RIVM) and the Rathenau Institute organized a convention on synthetic biology for representatives from the government, scientific institutions, enterprise & NGO's. Titled "Industrial Biotechnology: exclusive supplier for biobased products", the convention was aimed at envisioning the impact and future role of synthetic biology. During this convention, we pitched our COMBs to show the attendees which great promises synthetic biology hold.

The RIVM and Rathenau Institute organized a SynBio convention where we could pitch our project.

Science communication

At the start of the summer, we reached out to future students to inform them about synthetic biology and the iGEM competition. Near the end of the summer, we also hosted an open convention at the TU Eindhoven where we were joined by all sorts of people unfamiliar with synthetic biology. Visitors included optometrists, teachers, physiotherapists and civil servants. During these conventions, we shortly pitched our project and some case studies based on which we held ethical discussions with the attendees. For more information, check here:

We presented attendees to our open floor with cases based on which ethical discussions where held.

Intellectual Property Rights

COMBs signaling components translate a close proximity into a measurable signal. Here shown is BRET.

General Outline

To evaluate the utility of the E.coli sensor three different scenarios will be scrutinized. The E.coli sensor system could possibly be used for the detection of diseases related to disturbances in the intestinal tract. Furthermore we will examine the use of our sensor system to detect pathogens related to Q-fever, a societal problem in the Netherlands. Finally we will look at the applicability of the sensor system to reduce the use of pesticides.

For each of these scenarios we have looked at law and legislation, ethical aspects and the vision of different stakeholders upon the problem and our proposed solution.
Law and legislation is a critical factor when it comes to bringing a product to the market. Different instances are concerned with testing the safety of a product before it reaches the consumer. One of the important instances in the Netherlands that we contacted was the RIVM. In Europe the EMA is an important regulator, responsible for the scientific evaluation of medicines developed by pharmaceutical companies.
Ethical aspects play an important role in the general attitude of the population towards new technological ideas and developments. To introduce these new possibilities within the field of synthetic biology to society, we are giving presentations and have ethical debates with them about the risks, consequences and possibilities. For the ethical aspects around our applications we contacted the CCMO, an institute in the Netherlands that is responsible for performing ethical test on developed medical treatments.
Other stakeholders we contacted are research institutes with regards to the intestinal tract, Q-fever and pesticides. Gastroenterologists and patients have been approached for the scenario about diseases within the intestinal tract. For the scenario about Q-fever we contacted infected farms and for the scenario about pesticides we contacted nurseries who are dealing with the overuse of pesticides.

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