Team:Dundee/Future3
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Commercial
Life After iGEM
Introduction
Synthetic biology is an area with huge growth, and with this follows huge commercial potential. In an interesting comparison we can compare iGEM and its standard parts to the world of computers. By looking at the (Palo Alto) Homebrew Computer Club within the mid 1970's. It was a group of computer hobbyists who contained famous members such as apple founder Steve Wozniak. The reason we equate this to synthetic biology is they used standard parts and configuring them to do different things. They built computers out of standard electronic parts and fitted them to do diverse tasks. It started by building certain circuits, then those circuits would be used to create something else, such as operating systems, and then computers. This is much like iGEM using standard parts and biobricks to create different and new creations, from promoters to sensors. Through the 70's and 80's to now we can see how the computer industry boomed, and this was all began with standard parts. Synthetic biology now puts biology and engineering in the same position now as semiconductors and circuits did for the computing in the 70's. We learned about the commercialisation process following a talk with the head of business for Selex ES. This was a learning curve, but displayed the commercial potential a project like this could have.
By standing back from iGEM and looking at synthetic biology as a whole, there is a huge potential for business from brining engineering methods into biology. This is what is essential to take the science to market, as we need to know why things work. In biology we know sometimes it does work, the next time it does not. The engineering principles shows that we need something to work 10/10 times rather than 7/10 to bring it to market and to make it commercial we need something to work 100% of the time
Forensic Market
In the UK the Home Office estimates that the forensic market is valued at £70-100 million (2013-14). This is just one country. By thinking about the police forces of the world the worldwide market for forensic science becomes massive. However bringing a biological project to market can take years, even decades to complete. Public perception of biology and forensics also has a huge impact on how quickly products can develop, as well as how they perform. Scientific developments are always closely grilled by the public especially synthetic biology. Tampering with cells, is a very scary thought to the average person. They cannnot always escape irrational thoughts, for example, outbreaks of diseases. This also follows with forensics as the ethical issues linked to the field have a big effect on its public perception.
Generic Commercialisation
It can take years, even decades to get products to market, depending on the complexity of the project and what is trying to be achieved. When trying to commercialise you have to set realistic expectations. With an idea you need to know that there is a need for what you are making, a good mark up, and a target audience to sell it too. For our toolkit we are targeting police forces and forensic units around the world, this is a multiple customer basis with multiple needs. There a different layers of management and processes the toolkit would have to go through to get to a crime scene. From this we have to ensure our kit could be used from murders to robberies and be as simple to use as possible. This way it could be used by people with multiple levels of experience, accessing a wide consumer base.
We also have to look at what the project is doing and the competition it faces. Is it more effective than what is already used? What's the clean up impact of our products? How is it going to be presented as evidence? Is it destructive to evidence? These are just a few questions that we have to ask ourself before commercialisation would be possible.
Furthermore, an idea working in the lab does not mean it will work in the hands of the end user. When you buy something you do not give it a second thought that its not going to do what you expect it to do. Before most products arrive on the shelves the company would have tested every plausible situation of what could go wrong. Testing and proving from the lab bench to market takes time, money and rigorous scientific methods before anything can be bought or sold.
Another way to commercialise is to sell your idea. You can package ideas and sell them to other people to commercialise. However, what stage would you sell them? You can write down an idea on a bit of paper and it may not be worth much, and you could sell this idea. You could build a prototype stage and sell it for hundreds of thousands. This has the benefits that you always don't need to commercialise, test your product, and pay all the overheads that come with this. Ideas have a value, and selling it at the right point can make a lot of money.
Synthetic Biology Specific Commercialisation
Engineering in biology is an emotive subject. Most of the public's opinions are formed from the news banner headlines, and from TV shows. This is not true, but it shows that it is imperative that engineering in biology is sold in a positive way. From this we identified the positive unique selling aspects of toolkit. Our project has a "crime fighting and justice" aspect with a "science first approach".
We have to sell it to the people with understanding behind forensic products. This is where the laboratory work and testing stages would be used to back up the products with facts. Synthetic Biology differs from generic commercialisation because the science needs to have been proven to be safe (within countries guidelines) and produce results.
Ultimately to commercialise you need a clear view of what is involved, good timing , understanding of the product life time with its limitations, and an assessment of the competition. There are two key questions any business should always be asking: Is what we doing feasible and does it fill a need?
