Gold Medal Discussion

Integrate findings of Human Practices investigation into design and execution of project

Our team member Donnchadh went to malawi for 6 weeks. He thoroughly explained the concept to the Medical Laboratory Scientists in the hospital, they also filled out a survey. He spoke to the local people about science and our aims with the iGEM project. He also spoke to a witchdoctor about modern science and the medicine it is capable of producing.

Donnchadh discovered in his survey of hospital workers in Malawi that there is a need for more rapid testing of certain diseases which can be done cheaply and simply. He found that running machinery in these countries can be expensive so a low cost alternative such as BaseHunter is favourable.

In our talks with experienced biomedical scientist, Dr. Brigid Lucey, we found that a niche exists even in developed labs for a rapid diagnostic for TB. As Mycobacterium tuberculosis is slow growing, it is difficult to culture. For this reason, lab results are often delayed even weeks for a confirmation of results. Basehunter could provide a simple and rapid method to identify M. tuberculosis in samples. For this reason we designed a Mycobacterium tuberculosis detector and began to verify that it functions as well as the other detectors. In this way, our Human practices investigations highlighted a real world problem that we sought to address.

Demonstrate a functional prototype of your project

We demonstrated a functional prototype of our project in our own lab. We then collaborated with both TCD and UCL to see if the prototype would be functional in another laboratory setting.

Improve function of an existing Biobrick part (made by another Team / your team in a previous year) and document findings on that parts page of the Registry

Improved GFP by adding a detector part to it.

Silver Medal Discussion

Experimentally validate that another new BioBrick Part (ii) of your own design and construction works as expected & document the characterisation of this part on the Registry

HPV 55bp Detector Part was designed, constructed and validated over the course of the project. Its sensitivity and specificity was determined and an optimised protocol for its construction and use was developed.

Submit this part (ii) to the registry

Submitted

Identify, investigate & address issues relating to ethics, sustainability, social justice, safety, security, and intellectual property rights (Human Practices) in the context of the project.

This year Cork iGEM identified intellectual property rights as an issue. We interviewed the (INSERT TITLE HERE) Cathal Garvey to investigate the issue and see his views on the issue.

Issues relating to the safety of the system for use as a diagnostic were identified. As with all diagnostics, this system must be optimised, standardised and deemed as good as or better than current procedures. The use of live cells in a diagnostic system is a unique feature which may lead to unforeseen complications such as unsuitable growth conditions in some settings or the impact of contaminating growth on results. To address this, we investigated suitable controls and validates our results by having outside labs (TCD & UCL) carry out our tests. We also sought the advice of experienced Biomedical Scientist, Dr. Brigid Lucey on the issue.

Another aspect of our human practices work was that done by team member Donnchadh in Malawi. The issue of sustainability of our detector in a real life lab setting was investigated by Donnchadh as he visited hospital labs in Malawi where the detector may theoretically be used. He surveyed staff members on the equipment and reagents they had and whether they believed such a detector was a viable and sustainable tool. We considered this in the design of our prototype and what to include in kits sent to TCD & UCL labs.

Also while in Malawi, Donnchadh evaluated resources in the lab and what diagnostics tests are available to patients of that hospital. The issue of social justice arose as gaps were clear between the hospital described by Biomedical Scientist with experience working in Ireland, Dr. Brigid Lucey, and that described by the Malawi biomedical scientists. Our project aims to bring first class molecular diagnostics to areas where it currently is not by providing an alternative to expensive equipment such as PCR machines. With this in mind, we designed our kits to be low cost, easy to ship and practical for use in labs which may be small and under-resourced.

Knowledge of synthetic biology was also limited in Malawi and this may hinder acceptance of our detector. To address this, Donnchadh explained our project and gave detail on what exactly synthetic biology is to workers in the hospital lab. We also learned of a culture of seeking medical care from witch doctors in Malawi. Donnchadh explained the concept of synthetic biology to this figure in the community where he worked, and got her approval of this and an acknowledgment that other advancements in science and medicine can aid in healing also.

Bronze Medal Discussion