Difference between revisions of "Team:Arizona State/Human Practices"
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Revision as of 21:57, 14 October 2016
Human Practices
Description
The lack of characterization of N-acyl homoserine lactones (AHLs) requires a comprehensive review of the safety of these molecules. The need for increased understanding extends to both the designed "Sender" parts and the AHL molecules themselves. Because quorum sensing is used by a myriad of bacterial species to induce virulence or biofilm formation, among other things, it has many implications towards activating a wide-range of bacteria. Our project aimed to investigate this broad issue by:
1. Consulting with experts in the field
2. Compiling a list of bacteria (pathogens, soil, water) that may possess orthogonality with AHLs produced by our Senders
3. Designing a AHL safe disposal plan
4. Writing a report that provides suggestions for future research/use of AHLs.
Consulting with Experts
Integrated Device Technologies
We contacted Integrated Device Technologies (IDT) to gather information on the possible threats associated with the Sender sequences that our team designed. This response was gathered over email, as shown below:
They asked the following questions in regards to how safe a gene might be:
- Could it be harmful to our lab personnel?
- Would inserting these genes into a different species lead to a new highly pathogenic strain?
- Could an accidental transfer to a different species lead to a highly dangerous pathogen?
GeneWiz
We contacted GeneWiz about the possible impact of AHL molecules on inducing quorum sensing in nature. This was done through an email response and a Skype call. The initial email response is shown below:
From the Skype call, our team aimed to clarify information about the dangers of AHLs. The following points were the biggest takeaways:
- GeneWiz checks for protein sequences, but not the products that the proteins create
- The possibility of AHLs activating pathogens has not been brought up before, but it’s the customer’s responsibility if they are dealing with potentially harmful chemicals/toxins.
- They check for toxins and strains that are on a list provided by the FBI (the two documents are attached)
iGEM teams are leading in the area of Human Practices because they conduct their projects within a social/environmental context, to better understand issues that might influence the design and use of their technologies.
Teams work with students and advisors from the humanities and social sciences to explore topics concerning ethical, legal, social, economic, safety or security issues related to their work. Consideration of these Human Practices is crucial for building safe and sustainable projects that serve the public interest.
For more information, please see the Human Practices Hub.
Note
You must fill out this page in order to be considered for all awards for Human Practices:
- Human Practices silver medal criterion
- Human Practices gold medal criterion
- Best Integrated Human Practices award
- Best Education and Public Engagement award
Some Human Practices topic areas
- Philosophy
- Public Engagement / Dialogue
- Education
- Product Design
- Scale-Up and Deployment Issues
- Environmental Impact
- Ethics
- Safety
- Security
- Public Policy
- Law and Regulation
- Risk Assessment
What should we write about on this page?
On this page, you should write about the Human Practices topics you considered in your project, and document any special activities you did (such as visiting experts, talking to lawmakers, or doing public engagement).
