Difference between revisions of "Team:Slovenia/Integrated Practices"
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<img class="ui medium image" src="//2016.igem.org/wiki/images/b/b5/T--Slovenia--HP-6.png" > \ | <img class="ui medium image" src="//2016.igem.org/wiki/images/b/b5/T--Slovenia--HP-6.png" > \ | ||
<figcaption><b>Figure 1: Discussion with culturologists prof. Franc Mali and doc. Toni Pustovrh, involved in SynErgene on the societal implications of our project.</b><br/></figcaption> \ | <figcaption><b>Figure 1: Discussion with culturologists prof. Franc Mali and doc. Toni Pustovrh, involved in SynErgene on the societal implications of our project.</b><br/></figcaption> \ | ||
| − | </figure> </div> <p>Mostly communicating with MDs, researchers in natural science, and among ourselves, we realized we could quickly fall in the trap of having a limited view of synthetic biology and our project, living in a sort of confirmation microbubble composed of approving scientist, but excluding the general public and their opinion. In order to tackle this, we wanted to talk to people who can understand the greater impact of science on society and how that is perceived by the general public. Taking into account the societal impacts of synthetic biology allows for more dynamic, varied solutions in the project. \ | + | </figure> </div> <p style="text-align:justify">Mostly communicating with MDs, researchers in natural science, and among ourselves, we realized we could quickly fall in the trap of having a limited view of synthetic biology and our project, living in a sort of confirmation microbubble composed of approving scientist, but excluding the general public and their opinion. In order to tackle this, we wanted to talk to people who can understand the greater impact of science on society and how that is perceived by the general public. Taking into account the societal impacts of synthetic biology allows for more dynamic, varied solutions in the project. \ |
We consulted prof. dr. Franc Mali and doc. dr. Toni Pustovrh, two culturologists from the University of Ljubljana, whose field of expertise is the sociology of science. We presented our project to them and they shared with us some excellent insights. Consultations with them indeed opened our horizons –having only best intentions we did not think of the potential misuse of our system, such as bypassing the doping regulations in professional sport by enhancing one’s own cells. The conversation later shifted to the wider filed of synthetic biology and its role in ensuring social justice, which impassioned us and educated our Social Engagement and Education segment <a href = "#fig1">Figure 1</a>. </p>'; | We consulted prof. dr. Franc Mali and doc. dr. Toni Pustovrh, two culturologists from the University of Ljubljana, whose field of expertise is the sociology of science. We presented our project to them and they shared with us some excellent insights. Consultations with them indeed opened our horizons –having only best intentions we did not think of the potential misuse of our system, such as bypassing the doping regulations in professional sport by enhancing one’s own cells. The conversation later shifted to the wider filed of synthetic biology and its role in ensuring social justice, which impassioned us and educated our Social Engagement and Education segment <a href = "#fig1">Figure 1</a>. </p>'; | ||
myId.data = "scientists"; | myId.data = "scientists"; | ||
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<figcaption><b>Figure 1: One of our brainstorming meetings</b><br/></figcaption> \ | <figcaption><b>Figure 1: One of our brainstorming meetings</b><br/></figcaption> \ | ||
</figure> \ | </figure> \ | ||
| − | </div> <p>iGEMers, be it students or advisors, together with researchers, form the base of our star. iGEMers are the individuals who imagine a design and make it come to life; the ones who put in the theoretical and practical work and therefore best understand the outline of their specific project, it’s unique possibilities, requirements and limitations. iGEMers do not know everything there is to know about the field and themselves only one of the impactors on the idea of the project, but can know more and be inspired trough conversation and idea exchange with their colleagues, mentors and peers. With this in mind we decided to write down our ides and brainstorm very early in the project, after the first discussions with researchers who <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Slovenia/Notebook/Proposals">inspired us</a> to work on our project <a href = "#fig2">Figure 1</a>. </p> <p style = "clear:both;"></p>'; | + | </div> <p style="text-align:justify">iGEMers, be it students or advisors, together with researchers, form the base of our star. iGEMers are the individuals who imagine a design and make it come to life; the ones who put in the theoretical and practical work and therefore best understand the outline of their specific project, it’s unique possibilities, requirements and limitations. iGEMers do not know everything there is to know about the field and themselves only one of the impactors on the idea of the project, but can know more and be inspired trough conversation and idea exchange with their colleagues, mentors and peers. With this in mind we decided to write down our ides and brainstorm very early in the project, after the first discussions with researchers who <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Slovenia/Notebook/Proposals">inspired us</a> to work on our project <a href = "#fig2">Figure 1</a>. </p> <p style = "clear:both;"></p>'; |
myId.data = "iGEMers"; | myId.data = "iGEMers"; | ||
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</figure> \ | </figure> \ | ||
</div> \ | </div> \ | ||
| − | <p>Researchers are scientist concerned with the basic idea of the project, with the possibility of execution of it, with the proof of the concept - in short, people who advise if the effort is even feasible/worth it. They do not need to necessarily be synthetic biologists as the teams are encouraged to search among other fields as well. Medical doctors, mechanical and electrical engineers, biologists, biotechnologists, (bio)chemists, computer scientists and many others have great and important ideas and considerations to contribute to the field. \ | + | <p style="text-align:justify">Researchers are scientist concerned with the basic idea of the project, with the possibility of execution of it, with the proof of the concept - in short, people who advise if the effort is even feasible/worth it. They do not need to necessarily be synthetic biologists as the teams are encouraged to search among other fields as well. Medical doctors, mechanical and electrical engineers, biologists, biotechnologists, (bio)chemists, computer scientists and many others have great and important ideas and considerations to contribute to the field. \ |
With the aim of designing foundational technology that could be some day applied to treatment of disease such as the Parkinson’s disease and diabetes we searched for appropriate experts in the field. We consulted prof. dr. Marko Živin, MD who deals with damage, plasticity and regeneration of nerves and muscles and his junior researcher, Kaja Kolmarič. They were extremely receptive to our idea of threating neurological disease with release of therapeutic protein from patient’s own cells, but suggested that optogenetic approach might be too invasive for an organ as sensitive and crucial as the brain, while chemical inducers of dimerization might have many side effects. It was their own research with ultrasound that inspired us and led to a shift in the emphasis of our project and resulted in ultrasound stimulation (US) becoming the focus of it. After exposure to the ideas on the potential use of ultrasound, team members returned to the drawing board and each came up with a project idea mainly tailored to ultrasound stimulation but still incorporating our <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Slovenia/Notebook/Proposals">initial idea of fast response</a> <a href = "#fig3">Figure 1</a>. </p><p style = "clear:both;"></p> '; | With the aim of designing foundational technology that could be some day applied to treatment of disease such as the Parkinson’s disease and diabetes we searched for appropriate experts in the field. We consulted prof. dr. Marko Živin, MD who deals with damage, plasticity and regeneration of nerves and muscles and his junior researcher, Kaja Kolmarič. They were extremely receptive to our idea of threating neurological disease with release of therapeutic protein from patient’s own cells, but suggested that optogenetic approach might be too invasive for an organ as sensitive and crucial as the brain, while chemical inducers of dimerization might have many side effects. It was their own research with ultrasound that inspired us and led to a shift in the emphasis of our project and resulted in ultrasound stimulation (US) becoming the focus of it. After exposure to the ideas on the potential use of ultrasound, team members returned to the drawing board and each came up with a project idea mainly tailored to ultrasound stimulation but still incorporating our <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Slovenia/Notebook/Proposals">initial idea of fast response</a> <a href = "#fig3">Figure 1</a>. </p><p style = "clear:both;"></p> '; | ||
myId.data = "researches"; | myId.data = "researches"; | ||
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</figure> \ | </figure> \ | ||
</div> \ | </div> \ | ||
| − | <p>Whereas researchers are interested primarily on foundational advance, medical doctors who work with patients every day are more prone to search for readily applicable and patient oriented implications. \ | + | <p style="text-align:justify">Whereas researchers are interested primarily on foundational advance, medical doctors who work with patients every day are more prone to search for readily applicable and patient oriented implications. \ |
After deciding to focus on ultrasound stimulation we decided to consult medical experts in the field of radiology for advice and consultation. For that reason, we talked to doc. dr. Katarina Šurlan Popovič, MD, radiologist in order to present her our idea and hear her ideas. She was fascinated with potential connection of computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound (US) in order to obtain the benefit for patients. We are quoting her “I would really like to see you develop the model for US stimulation and be the first to try it!”. We took her eagerness to heart and decided to develop a model of ultrasound propagation through the tissue which could show us how in the future an individualized approach could be used. For instance, CT would be obtained for each patient and program would identify the tissue by their characteristics and position the US probes to obtain <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Slovenia/Hardware">focused regions of high pressure on the selected part of the brain</a> <a href = "#fig4">Figure 1</a>. </p> \ | After deciding to focus on ultrasound stimulation we decided to consult medical experts in the field of radiology for advice and consultation. For that reason, we talked to doc. dr. Katarina Šurlan Popovič, MD, radiologist in order to present her our idea and hear her ideas. She was fascinated with potential connection of computed tomography (CT) and ultrasound (US) in order to obtain the benefit for patients. We are quoting her “I would really like to see you develop the model for US stimulation and be the first to try it!”. We took her eagerness to heart and decided to develop a model of ultrasound propagation through the tissue which could show us how in the future an individualized approach could be used. For instance, CT would be obtained for each patient and program would identify the tissue by their characteristics and position the US probes to obtain <a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:Slovenia/Hardware">focused regions of high pressure on the selected part of the brain</a> <a href = "#fig4">Figure 1</a>. </p> \ | ||
<div style = "clear: both; float:left"> \ | <div style = "clear: both; float:left"> \ | ||
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</figure> \ | </figure> \ | ||
</div> \ | </div> \ | ||
| − | <p>By exploring further potential applications and reading the literature, asist. dr. Matjaž Sever, MD hematologist offered us help in his area of expertise. He went even a step further – by acknowledging how demanding the project is and how incredible it seems to develop it in half a year, he suggested making the list of all the potential hormones, peptides and proteins which might benefit if secreted by our quick system. Even when the iGEM competition finishes, our work does not – it is just a new beginning for more amazing findings to happen. It is not realistic to expect from us to start a project from scratch and develop something completely new in that short amount of time and optimize everything for medical usage. For that reason, our human practice investigation helped us realize how potentially beneficial our project can be in medicine and make long term partnerships and plans. If one could make a significant medical application, that person should have started from already known foundations. We did not. Instead, we are making the paradigm shift which will for sure find several applications in near future, maybe even by some future iGEM teams <a href = "#fig5">Figure 2</a>. </p><p style = "clear:both;"></p>'; | + | <p style="text-align:justify">By exploring further potential applications and reading the literature, asist. dr. Matjaž Sever, MD hematologist offered us help in his area of expertise. He went even a step further – by acknowledging how demanding the project is and how incredible it seems to develop it in half a year, he suggested making the list of all the potential hormones, peptides and proteins which might benefit if secreted by our quick system. Even when the iGEM competition finishes, our work does not – it is just a new beginning for more amazing findings to happen. It is not realistic to expect from us to start a project from scratch and develop something completely new in that short amount of time and optimize everything for medical usage. For that reason, our human practice investigation helped us realize how potentially beneficial our project can be in medicine and make long term partnerships and plans. If one could make a significant medical application, that person should have started from already known foundations. We did not. Instead, we are making the paradigm shift which will for sure find several applications in near future, maybe even by some future iGEM teams <a href = "#fig5">Figure 2</a>. </p><p style = "clear:both;"></p>'; |
myId.data = "doctors"; | myId.data = "doctors"; | ||
} | } | ||
Revision as of 09:28, 19 October 2016
Integrated Practices
Various extraordinary synthetic biology projects can be depicted as boats and ships, seeking the safety of a harbor in the wide ocean, their main purpose finding the final destination.
No matter how different or fascinating the boat is, its main purpose is to safely arrive to the harbor. Before there were modern GPS systems, sailors had to rely on using natural events and signs. One of the main was the lodestar, the most shining star, which is always a good orientation point.
Similarly, many research projects can struggle no matter how fascinating they are. They might lose the feeling of reality and just travel for the sake of travel.
In order to give the right coordinates, which showed to be of high importance in our case, we developed a new symbol for future iGEM teams who might apply their projects to the medical field – community oriented lodestar. No matter if the team is competing in the foundational advance or medical application section, maximization of benefit to society should be the number one priority.
For content click on THE star
Consequently, if ever lost, teams should just find the shining star and orient in respect to it. By thorough discussions and careful implementation of ideas
provided by all the participants involved in dialogue, iGEM team should be able to present at the Giant Jamboree the most of the project –completely analyzed project
in real life. It’s not only the idea that influences the minds and thinking of individuals involved, but the relationship is reciprocal. The people involved have a great
deal of influence over the idea itself as well. The concept will be explained on our example. While we are competing in the foundational advance track we have considered
many possible medical applications of our project, particularly diabetes, Parkinson’s disease and hemorrhagic diseases, since medicine is the field of study of several
students and other students and mentors have a soft spot for this direction. .
