Difference between revisions of "Team:Bordeaux/Practices"

Popularization

This year, IGEM Bordeaux has decided to invest time and energy in talking with people about synthetic biology and Genetically modified organisms. You'll find in this section a preview of what we did this year

Cap Sciences

Cap sciences is an animations center in Bordeaux, open to all which tries to help people discover and understand scientific phenomenons, new technologies and their industrial applications. They try to make science accessible to everyone and to engage a large variety of people in scientific activities. They were glad to hear about our project and we have been in contact with them all throughout the year, presenting what we've done on popularization. Here is a link to an interview we had with them at the beginning of the year:

Watch our interview!

This partnership also pushed us to go talk to people on the street to understand where their fear of genetically modified organisms comes from and to raise awareness on what is being done nowadays with synthetic biology in our everyday life. Caroline, Charlotte, Gilles and Diego spent a few afternoons in the streets of Bordeaux trying to get in contact with walkers. These conversations tought us that in Bordeaux the main concern about GMO's is that people are unaware about what they really are and the possibilities that synthetic biology offer us. Furthermore it made us start to realize the importance of scientific communication and for the need to think about our project from an ethical and safety point of view. For more information on the questions we asked ourselves please see the Ethics page!

SURVEY TO PUT HERE

Presentation of Synthetic Biology in Lycée Montesquieu

IGEM Bordeaux also wanted to raise teenager's awareness of synthetic biology. On 2015, May, 21st, Jean, Savandara and Lily made a presentation of synthetic biology at the school "Lycée Montesquieu" in Bordeaux, showing its interest by giving some interesting applications.

Lab Life

After a few years of thinking about it, our game is finally going to be created physically. It took some determination and long hours playing to optimize it but we're proud to present our 2015 Edition!

Safety

To avoid confusion about the terms "biosecurity", "biosafety" and "biohazard", some people gave a definition of each of these terms.

• Biosafety describes principles, technologies and containment practices put in place to avoid accidents and unintentional exposure to pathogens and toxins.

• Biosecurity describes the protection measures put in place and management of important biological materials in laboratories, in order to prevent them from being accessed without authorization.

• Biohazard includes, in this case, both biosafety and biosecurity.

Reference : http://www.ambafrance-uk.org/Biosecurite-dans-les-laboratoires

The team who worked in the lab has received instructions of lab safety with safety training.

• We learned about acting in case of an accident, where to find emergency showers, fire extinguishers and emergency doors.

• Some requirements were discussed as wearing gloves and lab coat for most procedures. In some cases, during the use of ethidium bromide, nitrile gloves are mandatory. Other experiments must be conducted with safety glasses. It is also recommended to wear clothes offering a minimum of protection.

• We also learned about working with chemicals products and how to dispose of them. Most products used are classified as non-hazardous (even for the sulfation protocol). Chemical products are just irritants and so handle it with gloves. In the lab, there is a specific solvent cabinet for liquid wastes.

• Moreover, all biological waste will be autoclaved before disposal. All work is done on benches or under open-front hoods.

• We worked with non-toxic organisms as Escherichia coli (BL21) and Saccharomyces cerevisiae (Invsc1) but, all waste that has been in contact with bacteria was put to bacterial waste in aseptic conditions.

Our project intends to use a polysaccharide which is synthetically produced by our genetically modified organisms but it already exists in nature. This molecule is naturally present in yeast’s wall, and doesn’t have a bad known impact on the environment. Compared to copper sulfate which is a toxic compound this molecule seems to be more eco-friendly. Indeed, this metal isn’t biodegradable; used many times to treat Downy Mildew, it is accumulated on the soil and the vineyards are polluted. For worms and micro-organisms living in vineyards soils, this compound is toxic, so it alters the biosphere. The hydric and air erosion contribute to the diffusion of copper in the transfer of pollution.

Ethics

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Economy

A bit of French Touch

The production of Bordeaux is 6.4 million hectoliters with only 14% for white wines. More than 850 million bottles are sold every year and a economy of more than € 3.7 billion. Today, the red wines represent 86% of total volumes produced by the vineyards of Bordeaux, 89% of exports in volume and 92% in value.

The Bordeaux vineyard now covers 123,000 hectares for 270,000 hectares of farmland. Soils and Girondins basements are rather shallow. The Gironde, the Garonne and the Dordogne soften the climate and meet the water needs of the vineyard. Found on the left bank of the Gironde and Garonne gravelly, sandy, clay, from the erosion of the Pyrenees. On the right banks, soils are likely limestone and limestone. The warm ocean current of the Gulf Stream accentuates the temperate climate and the Landes forest forms a protective shield against the winds of the ocean.

We can find lots of grapes :
Reds: Merlot, Cabernet Sauvignon, Cabernet Franc, Malbec, Petit Verdot.
Whites: Sauvignon, Semillon, Muscadelle, Ugni Blanc, Colombard.

Apart from small local names among the most famous, all other larger in size, occur depending on the vintage, more or less significant quantities of Bordeaux and Bordeaux Supérieur.

Some mildew key figures

15 is , on average, the number of treatments that had to make a winemaker in 2012 to fight against mildew.
11 ° C is the minimum temperature required for initiation of primary infections in the spring.
€ 246 per ha is the average investment of a winemaker in France in 2012 for his fight against mildew.
4 days this is the optimal time necessary to complete mildew its entire cycle from contamination by spore until the following sporulation.
1878 is the year when the mildew , Plasmopara viticola , was observed for the first time in France.
Treatments against mildew have a cost that varies between € 50,000 and € 164,000 per year.

You can find on the vinopôle website the evolution of mildiou risk every week !

Over the last 20 years, no less than 3 mildew epidemics were recorded in France . These outbreaks have a direct impact on the production of wine. As shown in the graph below, represents the number of hL (millions) produced over time , production in 1998 , 2001 and 2006 dropped by over 50 % compared to previous years.

In 2010, each hectar or grapevine had received around 16 chemical treatments (this number was 15 in 2006) and varies greatly between regions. Amongst the biological threats on grapevine, mushroom parasites are far ahead of insects and fungi (12 fungicides are used against 2 insecticides and 2 weedkillers). Over 95% of the fongicide treatments in 2010 were due to mildew and oidium, sicknesses that are favorized by rain, humidity and heat. They bring the global quality of the wine down by reducing it's composition in phenols and sugars.
The risc of contamination on the leaves begin during the period where the floral buds and futur grapes are growing and lasts until the moment when the grapes touch each other. The sensibility period between oidium and mildew have common momments and vinyards don't heasitate to mix anti-mildew and anti-oidium solutions making the concentrations of these chemicals twice more concentrated in the grounds.
Downy mildew requires optimum conditions to reproduce and infect. A warm, moist, and humid environment is required. Studies in Sicily have shown optimum time for oospore germination is between the end of February and the middle of March. With this understanding, if fungicides are used just before these conditions occur, and have proven to be efficient measures. Other methods include proper watering, and a good location where the plant can receive continual sunlight.

What are the problems with these treatments ? Are they really efficient ?

To have a really efficient treatment what would we need?

iGEM Bordeaux !

Reference : www.oenologie.fr / www.vins-bordeaux-negoce.com / www.vignevin.com / www.vinopôle.com

Business time

SWOT ANALYSIS

iGEM Bordeaux: Contacting vineyards

To try to see the effect that mildew has on wine producers, iGEM Bordeaux contacted numerous castles in the region and attended the two biggest wine assemblies in Bordeaux: La foire au vin and Vinexpo. This allowed us to speak to the producers on how much their production is threatened by oomycetes such as mildew and to see if they would eventually be interested in an alternative preventive solution that would be eco-friendly. At the same time, this allowed us to search for sponsors in the region to raise money for our lab work.