Team:Imperial College London/Ethics

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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;The simple exercise of reading and talking through some of the wider socio-political and ethical issues amongst fellow iGEM peers does a lot to benefit the field. If we begin now to work on developing ourselves as scientists and engineers who can relate our work to a bigger picture, it will only serve to benefit our research community and our society at later stages of synthetic biology’s development.<br>
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;Of course, there are many avenues to go down to take human practices projects further – do some pubic outreach by visiting schools or community centres to talk about synthetic biology; make questionnaires for members of the synthetic biology community or wider circles in your university, city or country; think carefully about how to build in safeguards into your projects and then make sure you’re able to talk about it clearly to lay audiences as well as to peers in the field. This is another reason why we are excited about coming all together at the jamboree, as it is an ideal opportunity for discussion and debate around the aforementioned issues. We believe that as the next generation of synthetic biologists – and hopefully as the generation who will really be transferring the products of synthetic biology into society – it is essential for us to consider human practices of synthetic biology as an inherent part of our work!
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When designing our 2009 iGEM drug delivery system The E.ncapsulator, we were faced with the issue of ingesting genetically modified organisms. In fact, our system uses Escherichia <i>coli</i> to produce a curative polypeptide. The bacteria then auto-encapsulate in a coat of sugars which will subsequently allow the produced polypeptides to arrive intact to the gut. The third module is when the bacteria over-express a set of restriction enzymes. This has the effect of killing the bacteria by making destroying their entire DNA. Without their DNA, the bacteria are unable to produce the proteins that enable them to survive and therefore die, leaving behind a bag full of the curative polypeptides.<br>
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This third module was consciously added to the E.ncapsulator system in order to ensure that no living, genetically modified bacteria would be ingested.  This module was the result of discussion among the team about the issues surrounding genetically engineered organisms, their ingestion and the risks involved.
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;When designing our 2009 iGEM drug delivery system The E.ncapsulator, we were faced with the issue of ingesting genetically modified organisms. In fact, our system uses Escherichia <i>coli</i> to produce a curative polypeptide. The bacteria then auto-encapsulate in a coat of sugars which will subsequently allow the produced polypeptides to arrive intact to the gut. The third module is when the bacteria over-express a set of restriction enzymes. This has the effect of killing the bacteria because their DNA is destroyed. Without their DNA, the bacteria are unable to produce the proteins that enable them to survive and they therefore die, leaving behind a bag full of the curative polypeptides.<br>
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;This third module was consciously added to the E.ncapsulator system in order to ensure that no living, genetically modified bacteria would be ingested.  This module was the result of discussion among the team about the issues surrounding genetically engineered organisms, their ingestion and the risks involved.<br><br>
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;However, our human practices project doesn't stop there. In fact, we have <b>recorded video interviews</b> (scroll down) of the members of the team and <b><html><a href="#Documents">written two documents</a></html></b> looking at the following three themes:<br>
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>1.</b> The importance of making science understandable for a large audience<br>
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>2.</b> What are the materials engineered in Synthetic Biology?<br>
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&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;<b>3.</b> Risk and responsibility of Synthetic Biology and the importance of dialogue between science and society<br>
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<br>
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<html><center><object width="425" height="344"><param name="movie" value="http://www.youtube.com/v/5USXunvymvc&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0"></param><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true"></param><param name="allowscriptaccess" value="always"></param><embed src="http://www.youtube.com/v/5USXunvymvc&hl=en&fs=1&rel=0" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowscriptaccess="always" allowfullscreen="true" width="425" height="344"></embed></object></center></html>
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=Documents=
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*[[Media:II09_HP_Dialogue.txt‎|Human practices primer and suggested reading]]
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*[[Media:II09_HP_BioEthics.txt|Ethical perspectives of The E.ncapsulator‎]]
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=Thanks=
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Many thanks go to [[Team:Imperial_College_London/Friends | Caitlin]] for all the support she has given us and for the seminar she organised.
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Thanks also go to [[Team:Imperial_College_London/Friends | Guillaume]] for the interesting thoughts he brought.
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Latest revision as of 03:51, 22 October 2009

II09 EthicsThumb.pngHuman Practices

    When designing our 2009 iGEM drug delivery system The E.ncapsulator, we were faced with the issue of ingesting genetically modified organisms. In fact, our system uses Escherichia coli to produce a curative polypeptide. The bacteria then auto-encapsulate in a coat of sugars which will subsequently allow the produced polypeptides to arrive intact to the gut. The third module is when the bacteria over-express a set of restriction enzymes. This has the effect of killing the bacteria because their DNA is destroyed. Without their DNA, the bacteria are unable to produce the proteins that enable them to survive and they therefore die, leaving behind a bag full of the curative polypeptides.
    This third module was consciously added to the E.ncapsulator system in order to ensure that no living, genetically modified bacteria would be ingested. This module was the result of discussion among the team about the issues surrounding genetically engineered organisms, their ingestion and the risks involved.

    However, our human practices project doesn't stop there. In fact, we have recorded video interviews (scroll down) of the members of the team and written two documents looking at the following three themes:
    1. The importance of making science understandable for a large audience
    2. What are the materials engineered in Synthetic Biology?
    3. Risk and responsibility of Synthetic Biology and the importance of dialogue between science and society

Documents

Thanks

Many thanks go to Caitlin for all the support she has given us and for the seminar she organised. Thanks also go to Guillaume for the interesting thoughts he brought.

Mr. Gene   Geneart   Clontech   Giant Microbes

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