HP Overview
In the process of E.SPA, we are always considering:
- How to get comprehensive feedback from different stakeholders to improve our design.
- How to let E.SPA go out of the laboratory, and truly create benefits for the society.
In addition, while we were constantly improving E.SPA, we were not willing to be passive learners. Instead, we used education and publicity to involve more people in synthetic biology.
Conduct two-way conversations with different stakeholders
In order to find different stakeholders, we created a three-group paradigm of research institutions, companies, and social individuals according to the product promotion process, and found representatives to establish contacts. The interview with the farmers let us confirm the destructive impact of burning stalks; Discussions with professors at Tianjin Institute of Microbiology and HZAU helped us improve the design of genetic circuit and pretreatment method of stalk; CCGB's visit made us no longer limited to astaxanthin, but used its pathway to produce products such as lycopene and β-carotene to achieve flexible utilization of straw; Feedback in CiCC and Yanjing Brewery's visit helped us divide the lengthy pathway into two subsections to ease the metabolic burden
Integrate HP work into E.SPA
As a team at China Agricultural University, we care about agricultural issues and environmental issues. Therefore, our project is focused on reducing environmental pollution by recycling stalks in an environmentally friendly and innovative way. Our first HP job was to interview local farmers and investigate the contamination of stalk. After confirming the destructive impact of burning stalk, we consulted Professor Peng Liangcai and determined the pretreatment method of straw. We have found that after degrading cellulose in stalk into glucose, there are many ways to use it to synthesize various products. Therefore, we carried out an AHP modeling work, explored the optimal pathway, and finally found astaxanthin synthesis. At the same time, we sought the support of three teachers from the Tianjin Institute of Microbiology and improved our protocols. After that, in order to allow the laboratory synthesis of astaxanthin to go to market and affect society, we visited CCGB, a company that produces astaxanthin and lycopene. We saw the value of astaxanthin, lycopene and other products, and also visited the CCGB workshop and R&D. Since we are synthesizing a range of products using E. coli, fermenters are required for mass production. We contacted the Yanjing Brewery and visited the large fermenter. The visit gave us the inspiration of using fermenters to connect the strains to achieve one-bacteria degradation and one-bacteria synthesis. Finally, we did a public survey on the acceptance of microbial products. The questionnaire shows that the public has a certain degree of acceptance of microbial products, so the products synthesized by the E. coli factory are able to occupy the market.
Maximize our help to society
We are always looking for ways in which E.SPA can bring benefits to society. Our initial idea was to use synthetic biology to degrade stalk and produce high-value products. This will not only reduce environmental pollution, but also turn waste into treasure to save costs. After visiting companies, we also found another prospect: this E. coli factory that turns waste into treasure will form a new industrial chain, thus solving the employment problem and driving the development of the regional economy.
Ensure the safety
In the course of the E.SPA project, we also pay great attention to safety and ethics. We especially consulted researcher Zhang Xueli, who said that the production of astaxanthin from E. coli can completely remove endotoxin and ensure safety. In addition, we also conducted a survey on whether to accept microbial products and distributed them to different groups such as community residents, workers, and students to investigate the public's acceptance of microbial factories.
Promote the development of synthetic biology
We tried to include more people in shaping synthetic biology through education and publicity. We have received the support of 7 courses, including microbiology, microbial genetics, and molecular biology etc., and opened the "Synthetic Biology Corner" at the College of Biology Science, which gives students a brief introduction to synthetic biology before class. We also designed and produced posters and brochures to introduce iGEM competitions to students of all grades. In addition, we also contacted the Beijing Chaoyang Foreign Language School and held a workshop for the students. We worked with them to creat biological models, and taught them biological knowledge. Furthermore, we have built a WeChat public account and regularly sent our project process and synthetic biology knowledge. We also worked with the Tianjin team to produce "the world of microorganisms" video to deepen public understandings of bacteria.
The figure below lists our HP work.
Analysis Report
We have also conducted an investigation about markets and industries who contribute to straw utilization in China as well as in globe. According to data collected, we composed a report of straw utilization. See our Analysis Report.
