PRACTICES

"How could we test the efficacy of our products?"

Integrated Policy and Practices

There are significant ethical considerations with the production of genetically engineered food supplements. We were particularly interested in investigating which of our two possible approaches for increasing butyrate would make a more ethical product and also how we would be able to show efficacy of either in humans.

To find out about how health benefits are usually tested, we consulted experts in the School of Nutrition at the University of East Anglia’s Medical School who have expertise in designing human intervention studies to determine the health benefits of foods and dietary supplements. We then designed a theoretical feeding trial that would test the efficacy of our products.

You can learn more by clicking on the image on the right.

“What does the Cancer Community think of our Project?”

Integrated Policy and Practices

Our team consulted with Chris Bushby and Nikki Morris, the CEO and Deputy CEO of Big C, a prominent UK-based cancer charity to gain some perspective on the ethics of cancer treatment/prevention. We discussed the ethics of preventative diets, how our product could be made available and promoted as a cancer-preventative measure. A key learning was that while the genetic engineering of food is still controversial in Europe, opinions may differ when the reasons for engineering are for the prevention of cancer.

In short, we learned that society’s collective moral hierarchy may place preventing cancer above objecting to the genetic engineering of food plants.

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"What do people know about modified starches? "

Education and Public Outreach

We are interested in whether people were aware of the wide use of modified starches so we took a display of starches to our city’s landmark Science Communication Day, “Science in Norwich”.

To demonstrate some of the properties and uses of starch such as caking agent, binding agent and crosslinker we make some fun products from starches. We made these from gluten free starches and ingredients from our kitchen cupboard so that they were safe and available to everyone.

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"Communicating the Anxieties and Awesomeness of Bioengineering - A Workshop for Scientists and Poets”

Being in Norwich, we are lucky enough to live in a city which doesn’t just host a world-leading scientific research park, but is a UNESCO City of Literature. We worked with the Science and Writing Trust (SAW), to hold a workshop for established poets at the the amazing Dragon Hall, a beautiful medieval building and home to the Norwich Writers Centre.

At the workshop we talked about our project, iGEM and bioengineering with established and published poets. They (and us!) conducted writing exercises guided by the published poet, Esther Morgan in which we expressed our emotions, concerns and awe of science. This workshop resulted in a collaborative collection of poems by writers and scientists.

You can learn more by clicking on the image on the right.