Difference between revisions of "Team:Central Calgary/policy"
| Line 50: | Line 50: | ||
<li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Central_Calgary/project#construct">Construct</a></li> | <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Central_Calgary/project#construct">Construct</a></li> | ||
<li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Central_Calgary/project#accomp">Accomplishments</a></li> | <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Central_Calgary/project#accomp">Accomplishments</a></li> | ||
| + | <li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Central_Calgary/project#future">Future Direction</a></li> | ||
</ul> | </ul> | ||
</li> | </li> | ||
| Line 83: | Line 84: | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
</nav> | </nav> | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
<div id="homeImage" class="jumbotron" style="color:#FFFFFF; background-image:url('https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/8/81/RandomWikiCrud-12.jpg'); background-size: 100vw auto; background-repeat: no-repeat; height:30vh;"> | <div id="homeImage" class="jumbotron" style="color:#FFFFFF; background-image:url('https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/8/81/RandomWikiCrud-12.jpg'); background-size: 100vw auto; background-repeat: no-repeat; height:30vh;"> | ||
| Line 107: | Line 105: | ||
<div class="container-fluid" id="outreach" style="text-align:justify;"> | <div class="container-fluid" id="outreach" style="text-align:justify;"> | ||
<h1 style="padding-left:1vw;"> Outreach </h1> | <h1 style="padding-left:1vw;"> Outreach </h1> | ||
| − | <p style="padding: 0 4.16vw"> | + | <p style="padding: 0 4.16vw"> The use of synthetic biology is not firmly established nor practiced in the medical field, so people tend to have negative views of it simply because it is something that remains unknown. The Central iGEM team participated in several outreach opportunities, where they explained the concept of synthetic biology to various members of the public. These experiences have been extremely beneficial to each member of the group, providing a real life connection to a generally conceptual project. |
| + | <br><br> | ||
| + | Cancer Support Group | ||
| + | The team spent time knitting scarves and brought them to a cancer support group in Calgary. Our team was deeply affected by the experience of speaking to these people who were experiencing the negative effects of chemotherapy. Many of them strongly indicated that they would choose to be taken by cancer than to undergo chemotherapy treatment again. This discussion led to several questions among Central iGEM, with the main one being: Is the outcome of this form of treatment worth the side effects? The women in the support group also shared personal stories about their battle with breast cancer, which evidently led to a very heart-felt experience for the team. | ||
| + | <br><br> | ||
| + | Colorectal Cancer Run | ||
| + | On Father’s Day, the team helped out at the Push for Your Tush run for colorectal cancer. Central iGEM volunteered at the run by manning water stations along the 10km route. The iGEM team had conversations with several cancer survivors that were present. A common opinion held by many survivors present at the run was that chemotherapy, as well as other popular cancer treatments, were not worth the severe side effects. | ||
| + | <br><br> | ||
| + | TELUS Spark | ||
| + | A few of the team members did a presentation on synthetic biology for children at the Calgary’s TELUS Spark Science Centre .They explained the project to the public and received stunning feedback from visitors of all ages. Results from surveys taken at this event show that the majority would be willing to use a bacterial form of treatment instead of chemotherapy, even when taking into account the the risks of mutation. The majority also believe that this form of treatment is ethical for human use. | ||
| + | <br><br> | ||
| + | Meeting with Dr. Schaffer | ||
| + | Dr. Schaffer, a gastrointestinal specialist, met with the team and discussed the project in order to find alternate approaches to this form of treatment. He informed the team that it is possible to safely release the project bacteria directly into the colon, and that a non-toxic promoter would be preferred over pLac.The benefits to keeping the bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract is that there would be no need for a kill switch, due to the fact that the body would rid itself of this bacteria on its own. The majority of the bacteria would remain within the body for less than twenty four hours, with only a small portion remaining for a maximum of three days. It was an amazing opportunity for Central iGEM, as it gave them one-on-one experience with an expert in work similar to their project. | ||
</p> | </p> | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
Revision as of 01:40, 19 September 2015
Policies & Practices
Safety
SAFE
Ethics
ETHIC
Outreach
The use of synthetic biology is not firmly established nor practiced in the medical field, so people tend to have negative views of it simply because it is something that remains unknown. The Central iGEM team participated in several outreach opportunities, where they explained the concept of synthetic biology to various members of the public. These experiences have been extremely beneficial to each member of the group, providing a real life connection to a generally conceptual project.
Cancer Support Group
The team spent time knitting scarves and brought them to a cancer support group in Calgary. Our team was deeply affected by the experience of speaking to these people who were experiencing the negative effects of chemotherapy. Many of them strongly indicated that they would choose to be taken by cancer than to undergo chemotherapy treatment again. This discussion led to several questions among Central iGEM, with the main one being: Is the outcome of this form of treatment worth the side effects? The women in the support group also shared personal stories about their battle with breast cancer, which evidently led to a very heart-felt experience for the team.
Colorectal Cancer Run
On Father’s Day, the team helped out at the Push for Your Tush run for colorectal cancer. Central iGEM volunteered at the run by manning water stations along the 10km route. The iGEM team had conversations with several cancer survivors that were present. A common opinion held by many survivors present at the run was that chemotherapy, as well as other popular cancer treatments, were not worth the severe side effects.
TELUS Spark
A few of the team members did a presentation on synthetic biology for children at the Calgary’s TELUS Spark Science Centre .They explained the project to the public and received stunning feedback from visitors of all ages. Results from surveys taken at this event show that the majority would be willing to use a bacterial form of treatment instead of chemotherapy, even when taking into account the the risks of mutation. The majority also believe that this form of treatment is ethical for human use.
Meeting with Dr. Schaffer
Dr. Schaffer, a gastrointestinal specialist, met with the team and discussed the project in order to find alternate approaches to this form of treatment. He informed the team that it is possible to safely release the project bacteria directly into the colon, and that a non-toxic promoter would be preferred over pLac.The benefits to keeping the bacteria in the gastrointestinal tract is that there would be no need for a kill switch, due to the fact that the body would rid itself of this bacteria on its own. The majority of the bacteria would remain within the body for less than twenty four hours, with only a small portion remaining for a maximum of three days. It was an amazing opportunity for Central iGEM, as it gave them one-on-one experience with an expert in work similar to their project.