Difference between revisions of "Team:Costa Rica/Human Practices"
| Line 1: | Line 1: | ||
| − | + | {{Costa_Rica/General}}{{Costa_Rica/NavBar}}{{Costa_Rica/BootStrap}} | |
| − | + | <html> | |
| − | + | <div class="container"> | |
| − | + | <div class="row mb-2"> | |
| − | + | <div class="col-md-5"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/2/23/T--Costa_Rica--team-J9.png" class="img-fluid" | |
| − | + | alt="Responsive image" style="width: 70%; margin-top:70px; margin-bottom:20px;"> | |
| − | + | <br> | |
| − | + | <p>Human practices are meant to explain why our project is important to the world. Here we present how we do | |
| − | + | an intense work to inform the people of Costa Rica about Synthetic Biology, iGEM and the new | |
| − | + | possibilities of Engineered Probiotics.</p> | |
| − | + | </div> | |
| − | + | <div class="col-md-7"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/9/91/T--Costa_Rica--team-group.png" class="img-fluid" | |
| − | + | alt="Responsive image" style="width: 90%; float:right;"> | |
| − | |||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="row mb-2" style="margin-top:80px;margin-bottom:80px;"> | |
| − | + | <div class="col-md-6"> | |
| − | + | <center onclick="currentSlide(1)" class="medal">Public Engagement</center> | |
| − | + | </div> | |
| − | + | <div class="col-md-6"> | |
| − | + | <center onclick="currentSlide(2)" class="medal">Integrated Human Practice</center> | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | </div> | |
| − | + | <style> | |
| − | + | * { | |
| − | + | box-sizing: border-box | |
| + | } | ||
| − | + | body { | |
| − | + | font-family: Verdana, sans-serif; | |
| − | + | margin: 0 | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | /* Slideshow container */ | |
| − | + | .slideshow-container { | |
| − | + | position: relative; | |
| − | + | background: #FFFFFF; | |
| − | + | border-radius: 25px; | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | /* Slides */ | |
| − | + | .mySlides { | |
| + | display: none; | ||
| + | margin-top: 40px; | ||
| + | padding-bottom: 40px; | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | + | .medal { | |
| + | opacity: 0.6; | ||
| − | + | font-family: Montserrat; | |
| − | + | font-size: 20px; | |
| − | + | font-weight: 300; | |
| − | + | font-style: normal; | |
| − | + | font-stretch: normal; | |
| − | + | line-height: normal; | |
| − | + | letter-spacing: normal; | |
| − | + | padding-bottom: 10px; | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | color: #000000; | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | .medal.active { | |
| + | font-family: Montserrat; | ||
| − | + | font-size: 20px; | |
| − | + | font-weight: 500; | |
| − | + | font-style: normal; | |
| − | + | font-stretch: normal; | |
| − | + | line-height: normal; | |
| − | + | letter-spacing: normal; | |
| − | + | color: #000000; | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | div.index-Menu { | |
| + | padding: 30px; | ||
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | .medal.active:after { | |
| − | + | content: ""; | |
| + | /* This is necessary for the pseudo element to work. */ | ||
| + | display: block; | ||
| + | /* This will put the pseudo element on its own line. */ | ||
| + | margin: 0 auto; | ||
| + | /* This will center the border. */ | ||
| + | width: 15%; | ||
| + | /* Change this to whatever width you want. */ | ||
| + | padding-top: 10px; | ||
| + | /* This creates some space between the element and the border. */ | ||
| + | border-bottom: 3px solid #705ba0; | ||
| + | /* This creates the border. Replace black with whatever color you want. */ | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | + | .medal:hover { | |
| + | font-family: Montserrat; | ||
| − | + | font-size: 20px; | |
| − | + | font-weight: 500; | |
| − | + | font-style: normal; | |
| − | + | font-stretch: normal; | |
| − | + | line-height: normal; | |
| − | + | letter-spacing: normal; | |
| − | + | ||
| + | color: #000000; | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | .mySlidesB { | |
| − | + | display: none; | |
| − | + | margin-top: 40px; | |
| − | + | padding-bottom: 40px; | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | .mySlidesC { | |
| − | + | display: none; | |
| − | + | margin-top: 40px; | |
| − | + | padding-bottom: 40px; | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | .mySlidesD { | |
| − | + | display: none; | |
| − | } | + | margin-top: 40px; |
| + | padding-bottom: 40px; | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | + | .carousel-img { | |
| − | + | max-height: 500px !important; | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | .mySlidesE { | |
| − | + | display: none; | |
| − | + | margin-top: 40px; | |
| − | + | padding-bottom: 40px; | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | .mySlidesF { | |
| − | + | display: none; | |
| − | + | margin-top: 40px; | |
| − | + | padding-bottom: 40px; | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | /* Next & previous buttons */ | |
| − | + | .prev, | |
| + | .next { | ||
| + | cursor: pointer; | ||
| + | position: absolute; | ||
| + | top: 50%; | ||
| + | width: auto; | ||
| + | margin-top: -22px; | ||
| + | padding: 16px; | ||
| + | color: white; | ||
| + | font-weight: bold; | ||
| + | font-size: 18px; | ||
| + | transition: 0.6s ease; | ||
| + | border-radius: 0 3px 3px 0; | ||
| + | user-select: none; | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | + | .carousel-control-prev .carousel-control-next { | |
| + | color: brown !important; | ||
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | /* Position the "next button" to the right */ | |
| − | + | .next { | |
| − | + | right: 0; | |
| − | + | border-radius: 3px 0 0 3px; | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | /* On hover, add a black background color with a little bit see-through */ | |
| − | + | .prev:hover, | |
| − | + | .next:hover { | |
| − | + | background-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.8); | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | .text { | |
| − | + | color: #f2f2f2; | |
| − | + | font-size: 15px; | |
| − | + | padding: 8px 12px; | |
| − | + | position: absolute; | |
| − | + | bottom: 8px; | |
| − | + | width: 100%; | |
| − | + | text-align: center; | |
| + | } | ||
| + | .description-text { | ||
| + | font-size: 15px !important; | ||
| + | font-family: Montserrat !important; | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | + | .inner-sublink { | |
| + | font-size: 16px; | ||
| + | } | ||
| + | </style> | ||
| + | <div class="slideshow-container"> | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlides"> | |
| + | <div class="row"> | ||
| + | <div class="col-md-3" style=" | ||
margin-left: 0em; | margin-left: 0em; | ||
padding-right: 0px; | padding-right: 0px; | ||
| Line 242: | Line 243: | ||
| − | + | <div class="tabs-container tabs--vertical page-navigator shadow" style=" | |
border-radius: 25px; | border-radius: 25px; | ||
width: 300px; | width: 300px; | ||
| Line 248: | Line 249: | ||
padding-bottom: 0px;margin-top: 2.4em;" id="myHeader"> | padding-bottom: 0px;margin-top: 2.4em;" id="myHeader"> | ||
| − | + | <h4 style=" | |
padding-left: 1em; | padding-left: 1em; | ||
">Index</h4> | ">Index</h4> | ||
| − | + | <ul class="lateral" style="padding-left: 40px;"> | |
| − | + | <li class="lateral"> | |
| − | + | <div class="tab__title " style="line-height: 1.3em;"> | |
| − | + | <a href="#sciencetd" class="lateral inner-link" style=" | |
color: #353535; | color: #353535; | ||
opacity: 1;">Science Through Dance</a> | opacity: 1;">Science Through Dance</a> | ||
| − | + | </div> | |
| − | + | </li> | |
| − | + | <li class="lateral"> | |
| − | + | <div class="tab__title " style="line-height: 1.3em;"> | |
| − | + | <a href="#sdg" class="lateral inner-link" style=" | |
color: #353535; | color: #353535; | ||
opacity: 1;">iGEMxSDG</a> | opacity: 1;">iGEMxSDG</a> | ||
| − | + | </div> | |
| − | + | </li> | |
| − | + | <li class="lateral"> | |
| − | + | <div class="tab__title " style="line-height: 1.3em;"> | |
| − | + | <a href="#booklet" class="lateral inner-link" style=" | |
color: #353535; | color: #353535; | ||
opacity: 1;">Booklet</a> | opacity: 1;">Booklet</a> | ||
| − | + | </div> | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | </li> | |
| − | + | <ul> | |
<li class="lateral"> | <li class="lateral"> | ||
<div class="tab__title " style="line-height: 1.3em;"> | <div class="tab__title " style="line-height: 1.3em;"> | ||
| Line 311: | Line 312: | ||
</li> | </li> | ||
| − | + | </ul> | |
| − | + | </ul> | |
| − | + | <ul class="tabs-content"> | |
| − | + | </ul> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="col-md-9" style="padding-left: 6em;padding-right: 2em; "> | |
| − | + | <h2 class="title-text" id="std">Science Through Dance</h2> | |
| − | + | <p>If there is something that we can be sure of is the primitive need that human being has | |
| − | + | to understand and describe the world that surrounds us. Both science and art, are | |
| − | + | avatars of human creativity, created to facilitate the process of understanding and | |
| − | + | expressing. Nevertheless, most people use to think about them as separated fields. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | <p>That’s why, using our background in science and the experience as a dance teacher of one | |
| − | + | of our team members, we fusioned them in a special show, named Science Through Dance. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | <p>The show Science Through Dance, gave us the opportunity to bring science and dance to the | |
| − | + | table, where dancers, scientists, dance parents, university teachers and many supportive | |
| − | + | people experienced, enjoyed, felt and learnt from it. It’s important to say that this | |
| − | + | space was also a way to demonstrate the capabilities of the country in these areas, | |
| − | + | which often go unnoticed or unconnected. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | <p>To achieve the goal, we contacted scientists, dancers from all ages and one of the most | |
| − | + | famous theatres in Costa Rica. First, for science section, we counted with Rosalind | |
| − | + | Innovations, a biotech-social entrepreneurship who spoke of the magnificence of nature | |
| − | + | and the unbelievable biotech projects that emerged from it. Also, 4 chemistry students | |
| − | + | from the University of Costa Rica, elaborated an incredible show, where they made and | |
| − | + | explained amazing experiments. Additionally, our team presented the project we are | |
| − | + | taking to the iGEM competition. As for the dance section, we counted with 90 dancers | |
| − | + | from 7 to 35 years old, from beginners to nationally and internationally recognized | |
| − | + | dancers. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | <p>Disciplines preformed were from Ballet to Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Lyric, Latin | |
| − | + | Dance, Antigravity, Break Dance and African Dance. All of them appreciated by 285 | |
| − | + | spectators. The show was covered by Novum Comunicaciones S.A., a company who took all | |
| − | + | astonishing photos you can see in the next slideshow. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | <!-- Slideshow container --> | |
| − | + | <div class="slideshow-container"> | |
| − | + | <!-- Full-width images with number and caption text --> | |
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesB"> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/4/45/T--Costa_Rica--team-N33.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | |||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesB "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/b/bc/T--Costa_Rica--team-N34.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesB "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/c/cc/T--Costa_Rica--team-N35.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesB "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/9/9d/T--Costa_Rica--team-N36.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesB "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/6/68/T--Costa_Rica--team-N37.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesB "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/4/42/T--Costa_Rica--team-N38.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesB "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/b/b4/T--Costa_Rica--team-N39.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesB "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/3/36/T--Costa_Rica--team-N40.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;filter:Flip;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesB "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/a/a1/T--Costa_Rica--team-N41.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px; filter:Flip;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesB "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/4/47/T--Costa_Rica--team-N42.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px ;filter:Flip;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
</div> | </div> | ||
| − | < | + | <!-- Next and previous buttons --> |
| + | <a class="prev" style="color:blueviolet;" onclick="currentSlidePicturesB(1)">❮</a> | ||
| + | <a class="next" style="color:blueviolet;" onclick="currentSlidePicturesB(-1)">❯</a> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <h2 class="title-text" id="sdg">iGEMxSDGs Challenge</h2> | |
| − | + | *Insertar imagen: Logo SDG | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | <p>In collaboration with the 2019 iGEM teams from Taipei American School (Taiwan) and the University | |
| − | + | of Tübingen (Germany), we created a challenge related with the Sustainable Development Goals | |
| − | + | (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations. This three continents and different time zones collab, | |
| − | + | was born to promote the SDGs and show the iGEM 2019’s footprint in the advancement of a global | |
| − | + | sustainable development. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | *Foto n45* | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | <p>iGEMxSDGs challenge’s inspiration is the current need to address the global challenges we are | |
| − | + | facing and we will potentially face in the future, confident that our challenge can impact teams | |
| − | + | in their fulfilment of the SDGs. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | <p>Every year each iGEM team targets at least one goal through their project and even more | |
| − | + | considering the human practice, collaborations and potencial outlook. Base on that, our | |
| − | + | challenge invited teams to match their targeting goals and post them on their social media. The | |
| − | + | strategy to encourage more teams consisted in a nomination chain, similar to the ice bucket | |
| − | + | challenge, where you accepted the challenge, posted your information and tagged three teams to | |
| − | + | do the same in the next 48 hours. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | <p>Considering the amount of tasks an iGEMer have to do this days, we elaborated a platform in our | |
| − | + | wiki (LINK) to facilitate the process. There, you just had to access from an iGEM account, | |
| − | + | select your team goals and easily create a collage for your social media. Also, we established a | |
| − | + | hashtag for our challenge named #iGEMxSDGs, to show all team posts and motivate other teams to | |
| − | + | do it. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | <h3>Challenge Results.</h3> | |
| − | + | <p>A total 74 teams participated in the hashtag challenge. The list of them is located in <a | |
| − | + | href="https://2019.igem.org/Team:Costa_Rica/Collaborations">Collaborations</a>). We shall | |
| − | + | now discuss the most shared SDG’s among the participants of our challenge. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | *insertar foto n43* | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | <p><b>SDG 3. Good Health & Well Being: </b>This was the most frequent goal targeted by teams that | |
| − | + | took part of the challenge. According to the UN, ensuring healthy lives and promoting the | |
| − | + | well-being at all ages is essential to sustainable development. Since the 19th century, | |
| − | + | significant efforts have been made to eradicate all sorts of diseases, including polio, | |
| − | + | smallpox, and malaria in most developed countries. It is not a coincidence that most iGEM teams | |
| − | + | targeted this sustainable development goal, since one of the main applications of synthetic | |
| − | + | biology is the treatment of diseases. Whether they come from pathogens, or from pollution, most | |
| − | + | teams agree that the most important goal to have in mind is the well being a health of the | |
| − | + | general population. This, combined with efforts in promotion and prevention, provide local | |
| − | + | communities with the necessary tools to achieve sustainable development. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | <p><b>SDG 17. Partnerships for the goals: </b>Most teams agreed that partnerships are the key to | |
| − | + | achieve major advancements in any field, specially if we are talking about development. For us, | |
| − | + | one of the main reasons why iGEM is unique, is because it promotes collaborations, and exchange | |
| − | + | of ideas between many different countries and disciplines. Even if a team has a project more | |
| − | + | oriented towards local issues, it’s important to document and share gathered information or | |
| − | + | data. You never know if someone across the world is trying to solve the same exact problem you | |
| − | + | are facing. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | <p><b>SDG 12. Responsible Consumption and Production: </b>Climate is one of the major global | |
| − | + | concerns right now. It is necessary to adopt a responsible approach towards production and | |
| − | + | discard of every kind of goods (clothing, technology, food). It is extremely important to | |
| − | + | achieve efficiency, and to minimize pollution via recycling. Being responsible with the | |
| − | + | environment is one of the main axes of sustainable development. We need to shift our mindsets | |
| − | + | from “How can we produce more and cheaper?” to “How can we produce more efficiently, minimizing | |
| − | + | our environmental impact?”. A significant amount of teams agreed with this. Pollution is a small | |
| − | + | and large scale concern, and efforts have to be doubled in order to solve this problem. Most of | |
| − | + | the teams in this collaboration have projects related directly to reducing contamination in | |
| − | + | industrial communities. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | <p><b>SDG 9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: </b>The fourth most shared SDG among the teams | |
| − | + | is one of the most fundamental in matter of development. Progress is absolutely necessary for | |
| − | + | sustainable development, and innovation is key to progress. Whether it comes from the | |
| − | + | improvement of already existing processes, or the creation of completely new technologies, iGEM | |
| − | + | teams agree that to make a change, it’s important to create something new and relevant. This | |
| − | + | also closely related to the very theme of iGEM, which is the development of synthetic biology, | |
| − | + | through interdisciplinary innovation. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | <h2 class="title-text" id="booklet">Booklet</h2> | |
| − | <div style="padding-left: 20px;"> | + | <p>“Synthetic biology has expanded and evolved substantially from its initial rather narrow focus to |
| − | + | appreciate and use more fully the diversity of mechanisms found in natural biological systems” | |
| − | <p><b>• </b>Dr. | + | -Christina D. Smolke. |
| − | </p> | + | </p> |
| − | </div> | + | <p>Nevertheless, this accomplishment can only be achieved is there is enough dialogue between the |
| + | parts involved in Synthetic Biology improvement. In Costa Rica, as in many countries, there is | ||
| + | still a lot to learn and discuss in this areas. And so, resources, bureaucratic processes and | ||
| + | the lack of scientific diffusion to general public are some of the problems frequently found in | ||
| + | synbio investigations in our country. | ||
| + | </p> | ||
| + | <p>Therefore, our team worked in the study and vinculation of synthetic biology segments needed to | ||
| + | be strengthen in our country. These sectors include National Politics, Healthcare Systems and | ||
| + | general public. | ||
| + | </p> | ||
| + | <p>To gather information about the state of the art of National Politics in terms of Synthetic | ||
| + | Biology, we interviewed experts in the topic: | ||
| + | </p> | ||
| + | <div style="padding-left: 20px;"> | ||
| + | <p><b>• </b>Dr. Pedro Rocha, International Technology and Innovation specialist involved in | ||
| + | biotechnology and biosafety issues in the Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la | ||
| + | Agricultura (IICA).</p> | ||
| + | <p><b>• </b>PhD. Sylvie Braibant, National Biotechnology Program Coordinator of Servicio | ||
| + | Nacional de Salud Animal.</p> | ||
| + | <p><b>• </b>Eng. Beatriz Ortiz, Evaluator in the Registries Unit, Health Products Regulation | ||
| + | Department of the Ministry of Health .</p> | ||
| + | <p><b>• </b>Lic. Alejandra Chaverri, Director of Regulation of Products of Health Interest of | ||
| + | the Ministry of Health. </p> | ||
| + | <p><b>• </b>Dr. José Ramón Salcedo, General Coordinator of the Master in Bio-Law of the | ||
| + | University of Murcia </p> | ||
| + | <p><b>• </b>MSc. Alejandro Hernández, Science Director at the Ministry of Science and Technology | ||
| + | for several years. </p> | ||
| + | <p><b>• </b>BSc. Ediner Fuentes, Ambassador of the iGEM Foundation for the CBD COP-MOP of the | ||
| + | Cartagena Protocol. </p> | ||
| + | <p><b>• </b>LL.M. María Carolina Peláez Gil, Global Health Law Practitioner and International | ||
| + | Legal Consultant. </p> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| + | <p>As for the Healthcare System, we wanted to approach to medical centers and doctors as a primary | ||
| + | source of information and future distribution channels of synthetic biology health solutions. | ||
| + | Therefore, we got in contact with:</p> | ||
| + | <div style="padding-left: 20px;"> | ||
| + | <p><b>• </b>Dr. Fernando Morales, Dean of Medicine of the University of Costa Rica.</p> | ||
| + | <p><b>• </b>Dr. Gustavo Leandro, Chief of Infectology of the Dr. Raúl Blanco Cervantes Hospital. | ||
| + | </p> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| Line 572: | Line 572: | ||
| − | |||
| − | + | <div class="slideshow-container"> | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | <!-- Full-width images with number and caption text --> | |
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesC"> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">1 / 3</div> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/5/5b/T--Costa_Rica--team-N4.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesC "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">1 / 3</div> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/6/6e/T--Costa_Rica--team-N5.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesC "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">1 / 3</div> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/7/70/T--Costa_Rica--team-N6.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesC "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">1 / 3</div> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/e/e0/T--Costa_Rica--team-N7.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesC "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">1 / 3</div> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/a/ab/T--Costa_Rica--team-N8.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesC "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">1 / 3</div> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/6/64/T--Costa_Rica--team-N9.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesC "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">1 / 3</div> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/7/7a/T--Costa_Rica--team-N10.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesC "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">1 / 3</div> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/thumb/2/20/T--Costa_Rica--team-N11.png/800px-T--Costa_Rica--team-N11.png.jpeg" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;filter:Flip;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesC "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">1 / 3</div> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/thumb/f/fb/T--Costa_Rica--team-N12.png/800px-T--Costa_Rica--team-N12.png.jpeg" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px; filter:Flip;"> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesC "> | |
| − | < | + | <div class="text-center"> |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">1 / 3</div> | |
| + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/thumb/b/b4/T--Costa_Rica--team-N13.png/800px-T--Costa_Rica--team-N13.png.jpeg" | ||
| + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px ;filter:Flip;"> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| − | < | + | <!-- Next and previous buttons --> |
| − | + | <a class="prev" style="color:blueviolet;" onclick="currentSlidePicturesC(1)">❮</a> | |
| − | + | <a class="next" style="color:blueviolet;" onclick="currentSlidePicturesC(-1)">❯</a> | |
| − | + | </div> | |
| − | < | + | |
| + | <p>Collected information from the interviews (explained below), we decided to elaborated a booklet | ||
| + | looking forward to inform the three segments mentioned before. You can see the material here. | ||
| + | (que “here” sea hipervínculo al diseño del folleto, que va a estar al final). | ||
| + | </p> | ||
| + | <h3 id="np">National Politics</h3> | ||
| Line 676: | Line 676: | ||
| − | |||
| − | + | <div class="slideshow-container"> | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | <!-- Full-width images with number and caption text --> | |
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesD"> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/6/6e/T--Costa_Rica--team-N5.png" | |
| + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | ||
| + | <div class="numbertext description-text">Reunion with the | ||
| + | congresswoman Xiomara Rodríguez</div> | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesD "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/7/70/T--Costa_Rica--team-N6.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">Reunion with the | |
| − | + | congresswoman María Vita Monge</div> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesD "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/6/64/T--Costa_Rica--team-N9.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">Reunion with some | |
| − | + | congressmen of the PUSC political party</div> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesD "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/1/19/T--Costa_Rica--team-N30.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">Reunion with different | |
| − | + | congressmen and women of different political parties</div> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesD "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/1/1b/T--Costa_Rica--team-N31.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">Reunion with different | |
| − | + | congressmen and women of different political parties</div> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesD "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/a/ab/T--Costa_Rica--team-N8.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">Reunion with congressman | |
| − | + | Melvin Núñez from the PRN political party.</div> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <div class="mySlidesD "> | |
| − | + | <div class="text-center"> | |
| − | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/e/e0/T--Costa_Rica--team-N7.png" | |
| − | + | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | |
| − | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">Reunion with Ramón Carranza | |
| − | + | from the PAC political party.</div> | |
| − | + | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | <!-- Next and previous buttons --> | |
| − | + | <a class="prev" style="color:blueviolet;" onclick="currentSlidePicturesD(1)">❮</a> | |
| − | + | <a class="next" style="color:blueviolet;" onclick="currentSlidePicturesD(-1)">❯</a> | |
| − | + | </div> | |
| Line 805: | Line 806: | ||
<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/thumb/d/db/T--Costa_Rica--team-N27.png/450px-T--Costa_Rica--team-N27.png.jpeg" | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/thumb/d/db/T--Costa_Rica--team-N27.png/450px-T--Costa_Rica--team-N27.png.jpeg" | ||
class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | class="img-fluid" style="height:500px;"> | ||
| − | <div class="numbertext description-text">Isolation room from Raul Blanco Cervantes Hospital</div> | + | <div class="numbertext description-text">Isolation room from Raul Blanco Cervantes |
| + | Hospital</div> | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| Line 966: | Line 968: | ||
<h3>Awareness for antibiotic resistance is lacking</h3> | <h3>Awareness for antibiotic resistance is lacking</h3> | ||
| − | <p>There is a worldwide lack of knowledge on the subject of microbial resistance to antibiotics and Costa Rica | + | <p>There is a worldwide lack of knowledge on the subject of microbial resistance to antibiotics and Costa |
| + | Rica | ||
is not the exception. Globally, the main cause of this problem is the misuse of antibiotics, leading | is not the exception. Globally, the main cause of this problem is the misuse of antibiotics, leading | ||
to the survival of some resistant bacteria, able to spread again. Also, the bad waste management of | to the survival of some resistant bacteria, able to spread again. Also, the bad waste management of | ||
| Line 994: | Line 997: | ||
with amoxicillin (antibiotic most commonly used in Costa Rica) for 24h at 37 °C. </p> | with amoxicillin (antibiotic most commonly used in Costa Rica) for 24h at 37 °C. </p> | ||
| − | + | </html> | |
| − | + | {{Costa_Rica/Interactive-Map}} | |
| − | + | <html> | |
| − | + | <h2>References</h2> | |
| − | + | <p class="ref"> | |
| − | + | Jackson, N., Czaplewski, L., & Piddock, L. J. (2018). Discovery and development of new antibacterial drugs: learning | |
| − | + | from experience?. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 73(6), 1452-1459. </p> | |
| − | + | <p class="ref"> O’Neill, J. (2014). Antimicrobial resistance. Tackling a Crisis for the Health and Wealth of | |
| − | + | Nations. </p> | |
| − | + | <p class="ref"> Tacconelli, E., Carrara, E., Savoldi, A., Harbarth, S., Mendelson, M., Monnet, D. L., ... & | |
| − | + | Ouellette, M. (2018). Discovery, research, and development of new antibiotics: the WHO priority list of | |
| − | + | antibiotic-resistant bacteria and tuberculosis. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 18(3), 318-327. </p> | |
| − | + | <p class="ref"> van Rijn, M., Haverkate, M., Achterberg, P., & Timen, A. (2019). The public uptake of | |
| − | + | information about antibiotic resistance in the Netherlands. Public Understanding of Science, 28(4), | |
| − | + | 486-503. | |
| − | + | </p> | |
| − | + | </div> | |
| − | + | </div> | |
| − | + | <script> | |
| − | + | var slideIndex = 1; | |
| − | + | showSlides(slideIndex); | |
| − | + | function currentSlide(n) { | |
| − | + | showSlides(slideIndex = n); | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | function showSlides(n) { | |
| − | + | var i; | |
| − | + | var slides = document.getElementsByClassName("mySlides"); | |
| − | + | var dots = document.getElementsByClassName("medal"); | |
| − | + | if (n > slides.length) { slideIndex = 1 } | |
| − | + | if (n < 1) { slideIndex = slides.length } | |
| − | + | for (i = 0; i < slides.length; i++) { | |
| − | + | slides[i].style.display = "none"; | |
| − | + | } | |
| − | + | for (i = 0; i < dots.length; i++) { | |
| − | + | dots[i].className = dots[i].className.replace(" active", ""); | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
} | } | ||
| + | slides[slideIndex - 1].style.display = "block"; | ||
| + | dots[slideIndex - 1].className += " active"; | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| + | var slideIndexPictures = 1; | ||
| + | showSlidesPicturesB(slideIndexPictures); | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | function currentSlidePicturesB(n) { | |
| − | + | showSlidesPicturesB(slideIndexPictures = slideIndexPictures - n); | |
| − | + | } | |
| + | function showSlidesPicturesB(n) { | ||
| + | var i; | ||
| + | var slides = document.getElementsByClassName("mySlidesB"); | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | if (n > slides.length) { slideIndexPictures = 1 } | |
| + | if (n < 1) { slideIndexPictures = slides.length } | ||
| + | for (i = 0; i < slides.length; i++) { | ||
| + | slides[i].style.display = "none"; | ||
} | } | ||
| − | + | slides[slideIndexPictures - 1].style.display = "block"; | |
| − | + | } | |
| + | var slideIndexPicturesC = 1; | ||
| + | showSlidesPicturesC(slideIndexPicturesC); | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | function currentSlidePicturesC(n) { | |
| − | + | showSlidesPicturesC(slideIndexPicturesC = slideIndexPicturesC - n); | |
| − | + | } | |
| + | function showSlidesPicturesC(n) { | ||
| + | var i; | ||
| + | var slides = document.getElementsByClassName("mySlidesC"); | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| + | if (n > slides.length) { slideIndexPicturesC = 1 } | ||
| + | if (n < 1) { slideIndexPicturesC = slides.length } | ||
| + | for (i = 0; i < slides.length; i++) { | ||
| + | slides[i].style.display = "none"; | ||
} | } | ||
| − | + | slides[slideIndexPicturesC - 1].style.display = "block"; | |
| − | + | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | + | var slideIndexPicturesD = 1; | |
| − | + | showSlidesPicturesD(slideIndexPicturesD); | |
| − | + | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| + | function currentSlidePicturesD(n) { | ||
| + | showSlidesPicturesD(slideIndexPicturesD = slideIndexPicturesD - n); | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | + | function showSlidesPicturesD(n) { | |
| − | + | var i; | |
| − | + | var slides = document.getElementsByClassName("mySlidesD"); | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | |||
| + | if (n > slides.length) { slideIndexPicturesD = 1 } | ||
| + | if (n < 1) { slideIndexPicturesD = slides.length } | ||
| + | for (i = 0; i < slides.length; i++) { | ||
| + | slides[i].style.display = "none"; | ||
} | } | ||
| − | + | slides[slideIndexPicturesD - 1].style.display = "block"; | |
| − | + | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | + | var slideIndexPicturesF = 1; | |
| − | + | showSlidesPicturesF(slideIndexPicturesF); | |
| − | + | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| + | function currentSlidePicturesF(n) { | ||
| + | showSlidesPicturesF(slideIndexPicturesF = slideIndexPicturesF - n); | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | + | function showSlidesPicturesF(n) { | |
| − | + | var i; | |
| − | + | var slides = document.getElementsByClassName("mySlidesF"); | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | |||
| + | if (n > slides.length) { slideIndexPicturesF = 1 } | ||
| + | if (n < 1) { slideIndexPicturesF = slides.length } | ||
| + | for (i = 0; i < slides.length; i++) { | ||
| + | slides[i].style.display = "none"; | ||
} | } | ||
| + | slides[slideIndexPicturesF - 1].style.display = "block"; | ||
| + | } | ||
| − | |||
| − | + | </script> | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | + | ||
| − | |||
| + | <style> | ||
| + | .sticky { | ||
| + | position: fixed; | ||
| + | top: 100px; | ||
| + | } | ||
| + | </style> | ||
| − | + | <script> | |
| − | + | ||
| − | |||
| − | |||
| − | + | // When the user scrolls the page, execute myFunction | |
| − | + | window.onscroll = function () { myFunction() }; | |
| − | + | // Get the navbar | |
| − | + | var navbar = document.getElementById("myHeader"); | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | // Get the offset position of the navbar | |
| − | + | var sticky = $('#myHeader').offset().top; | |
| − | + | ||
| − | + | // Add the sticky class to the navbar when you reach its scroll position. Remove "sticky" when you leave the scroll position | |
| − | } | + | function myFunction() { |
| − | </script> | + | if (window.pageYOffset + 130 >= sticky) { |
| − | + | navbar.classList.add("sticky") | |
| + | } else { | ||
| + | navbar.classList.remove("sticky"); | ||
| + | } | ||
| + | } | ||
| + | </script> | ||
| + | </div> | ||
| − | + | </html> | |
| − | + | {{Costa_Rica/Footbar}} | |
Revision as of 01:55, 21 October 2019
Human practices are meant to explain why our project is important to the world. Here we present how we do an intense work to inform the people of Costa Rica about Synthetic Biology, iGEM and the new possibilities of Engineered Probiotics.
Science Through Dance
If there is something that we can be sure of is the primitive need that human being has to understand and describe the world that surrounds us. Both science and art, are avatars of human creativity, created to facilitate the process of understanding and expressing. Nevertheless, most people use to think about them as separated fields.
That’s why, using our background in science and the experience as a dance teacher of one of our team members, we fusioned them in a special show, named Science Through Dance.
The show Science Through Dance, gave us the opportunity to bring science and dance to the table, where dancers, scientists, dance parents, university teachers and many supportive people experienced, enjoyed, felt and learnt from it. It’s important to say that this space was also a way to demonstrate the capabilities of the country in these areas, which often go unnoticed or unconnected.
To achieve the goal, we contacted scientists, dancers from all ages and one of the most famous theatres in Costa Rica. First, for science section, we counted with Rosalind Innovations, a biotech-social entrepreneurship who spoke of the magnificence of nature and the unbelievable biotech projects that emerged from it. Also, 4 chemistry students from the University of Costa Rica, elaborated an incredible show, where they made and explained amazing experiments. Additionally, our team presented the project we are taking to the iGEM competition. As for the dance section, we counted with 90 dancers from 7 to 35 years old, from beginners to nationally and internationally recognized dancers.
Disciplines preformed were from Ballet to Jazz, Tap, Hip Hop, Contemporary, Lyric, Latin Dance, Antigravity, Break Dance and African Dance. All of them appreciated by 285 spectators. The show was covered by Novum Comunicaciones S.A., a company who took all astonishing photos you can see in the next slideshow.
iGEMxSDGs Challenge
*Insertar imagen: Logo SDGIn collaboration with the 2019 iGEM teams from Taipei American School (Taiwan) and the University of Tübingen (Germany), we created a challenge related with the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) proposed by the United Nations. This three continents and different time zones collab, was born to promote the SDGs and show the iGEM 2019’s footprint in the advancement of a global sustainable development.
*Foto n45*iGEMxSDGs challenge’s inspiration is the current need to address the global challenges we are facing and we will potentially face in the future, confident that our challenge can impact teams in their fulfilment of the SDGs.
Every year each iGEM team targets at least one goal through their project and even more considering the human practice, collaborations and potencial outlook. Base on that, our challenge invited teams to match their targeting goals and post them on their social media. The strategy to encourage more teams consisted in a nomination chain, similar to the ice bucket challenge, where you accepted the challenge, posted your information and tagged three teams to do the same in the next 48 hours.
Considering the amount of tasks an iGEMer have to do this days, we elaborated a platform in our wiki (LINK) to facilitate the process. There, you just had to access from an iGEM account, select your team goals and easily create a collage for your social media. Also, we established a hashtag for our challenge named #iGEMxSDGs, to show all team posts and motivate other teams to do it.
Challenge Results.
A total 74 teams participated in the hashtag challenge. The list of them is located in Collaborations). We shall now discuss the most shared SDG’s among the participants of our challenge.
*insertar foto n43*SDG 3. Good Health & Well Being: This was the most frequent goal targeted by teams that took part of the challenge. According to the UN, ensuring healthy lives and promoting the well-being at all ages is essential to sustainable development. Since the 19th century, significant efforts have been made to eradicate all sorts of diseases, including polio, smallpox, and malaria in most developed countries. It is not a coincidence that most iGEM teams targeted this sustainable development goal, since one of the main applications of synthetic biology is the treatment of diseases. Whether they come from pathogens, or from pollution, most teams agree that the most important goal to have in mind is the well being a health of the general population. This, combined with efforts in promotion and prevention, provide local communities with the necessary tools to achieve sustainable development.
SDG 17. Partnerships for the goals: Most teams agreed that partnerships are the key to achieve major advancements in any field, specially if we are talking about development. For us, one of the main reasons why iGEM is unique, is because it promotes collaborations, and exchange of ideas between many different countries and disciplines. Even if a team has a project more oriented towards local issues, it’s important to document and share gathered information or data. You never know if someone across the world is trying to solve the same exact problem you are facing.
SDG 12. Responsible Consumption and Production: Climate is one of the major global concerns right now. It is necessary to adopt a responsible approach towards production and discard of every kind of goods (clothing, technology, food). It is extremely important to achieve efficiency, and to minimize pollution via recycling. Being responsible with the environment is one of the main axes of sustainable development. We need to shift our mindsets from “How can we produce more and cheaper?” to “How can we produce more efficiently, minimizing our environmental impact?”. A significant amount of teams agreed with this. Pollution is a small and large scale concern, and efforts have to be doubled in order to solve this problem. Most of the teams in this collaboration have projects related directly to reducing contamination in industrial communities.
SDG 9. Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure: The fourth most shared SDG among the teams is one of the most fundamental in matter of development. Progress is absolutely necessary for sustainable development, and innovation is key to progress. Whether it comes from the improvement of already existing processes, or the creation of completely new technologies, iGEM teams agree that to make a change, it’s important to create something new and relevant. This also closely related to the very theme of iGEM, which is the development of synthetic biology, through interdisciplinary innovation.
Booklet
“Synthetic biology has expanded and evolved substantially from its initial rather narrow focus to appreciate and use more fully the diversity of mechanisms found in natural biological systems” -Christina D. Smolke.
Nevertheless, this accomplishment can only be achieved is there is enough dialogue between the parts involved in Synthetic Biology improvement. In Costa Rica, as in many countries, there is still a lot to learn and discuss in this areas. And so, resources, bureaucratic processes and the lack of scientific diffusion to general public are some of the problems frequently found in synbio investigations in our country.
Therefore, our team worked in the study and vinculation of synthetic biology segments needed to be strengthen in our country. These sectors include National Politics, Healthcare Systems and general public.
To gather information about the state of the art of National Politics in terms of Synthetic Biology, we interviewed experts in the topic:
• Dr. Pedro Rocha, International Technology and Innovation specialist involved in biotechnology and biosafety issues in the Instituto Interamericano de Cooperación para la Agricultura (IICA).
• PhD. Sylvie Braibant, National Biotechnology Program Coordinator of Servicio Nacional de Salud Animal.
• Eng. Beatriz Ortiz, Evaluator in the Registries Unit, Health Products Regulation Department of the Ministry of Health .
• Lic. Alejandra Chaverri, Director of Regulation of Products of Health Interest of the Ministry of Health.
• Dr. José Ramón Salcedo, General Coordinator of the Master in Bio-Law of the University of Murcia
• MSc. Alejandro Hernández, Science Director at the Ministry of Science and Technology for several years.
• BSc. Ediner Fuentes, Ambassador of the iGEM Foundation for the CBD COP-MOP of the Cartagena Protocol.
• LL.M. María Carolina Peláez Gil, Global Health Law Practitioner and International Legal Consultant.
As for the Healthcare System, we wanted to approach to medical centers and doctors as a primary source of information and future distribution channels of synthetic biology health solutions. Therefore, we got in contact with:
• Dr. Fernando Morales, Dean of Medicine of the University of Costa Rica.
• Dr. Gustavo Leandro, Chief of Infectology of the Dr. Raúl Blanco Cervantes Hospital.
Collected information from the interviews (explained below), we decided to elaborated a booklet looking forward to inform the three segments mentioned before. You can see the material here. (que “here” sea hipervínculo al diseño del folleto, que va a estar al final).
National Politics
Health Care System
In a meeting with Dr. Fernando Morales and Dr. Gustavo Leandro, we talked about the prospects of synthetic biology in health. In regards of their interest on the topics discussed, they helped us organize a broadcast event in the National Hospital of Geriatrics and Gerontology, Dr. Raúl Blanco Cervantes Hospital, which is also a WHO collaborative center.
The event was attended by 72 health professionals (the list of attendance is shown in the following table). Participation was not only from the Dr. Raúl Blanco Cervantes Hospital, but also from the infectology department of San Juan de Dios Hospital, both of them belong to the 29 public hospitals of our country. It was important for us to exchange ideas with experts of both institutions because they frequently attend cases of multidrug resistant bacteria, which could eventually be treated through synthetic biology solutions.
During the event, we were able to share with the audience the concept of synthetic biology, how it is applied in Costa Rica and the possible use of bioengineered microorganisms as treatment. The response of the participants about the topic was positive; however, we were interested to know if they considered that a bioengineered probiotic as a therapeutic was a possible option in our healthcare system. Among the comments we received, doctors reaffirmed to us the importance of divulging this new kind of treatments, so that the public is more recipient of it and less scared about its side effects. In words of one of the doctors: “if you publish, communicate and socialize your treatment, then it is easier for us to suggest it as a therapeutic to patients that have heard about it, in contrast with those who have not”.
Hand in hand with the above, another engagement activity we did in the Dr. Raúl Blanco Cervantes Hospital consisted in providing the information of the booklet to various patients and companions. As this hospital is specialized in the elderly, we were able to share about antibiotic resistance with a vulnerable public. Must of patients were really interested on the topic and they took their time to read the information provided and ask us questions. Therefore, in the hospitals we were able to bring synthetic biology as an alternative closer to the Costa Rican healthcare system and final beneficiaries.
Academic Talks
Costa Rica is recognized as one of the leading countries in terms of education in Latin America. However, for Costa Rican educational policy and practice there’s a lot to improve in the field of science and technology. Within it, synthetic biology is undoubtedly an unexplored topic in Costa Rican education.
Therefore, our team gave the booklet and talked to high school and undergrad students who aren’t able to learn of it in order place. We introduced basic concepts of synthetic biology such as genetic modification, recombinant proteins, domain fusions, among others. We also explained our project diffEASY, raised awareness about the situation of Costa Rican politics regulation and mainly, motivated them to don’t lose their interest to understand their surroundings.
Press Release
Our booklet aimed to engage synthetic biology with Costa Rican society too, considering the beliefs of general population, some of them based on disinformation. Therefore, we reached different press media from our country to help us inform a larger public. It is important to emphasize that this kind of involvement with general public is key in the improvement of an informed and critical society, in order to create awareness of the possibilities with GMOs and their limitations.
Fortunately, we were featured in multiple press releases, including social media, radio and television. Notably, TV interviews were hosted in the main TV news channels of the country. Also, thanks to Kantar Media Ibope, software for press monitoring used by ITCR, here we show you a summary with all the press publications and their reach, which had a total of 204 373 people.
Our booklet design
(Hover mouse over to stop)
Antibiotic resistance: A global problem
Since we were brainstorming about possible problems to be addressed, we quickly (not so much) stumbled upon the issue of antibiotic resistance. This phenomenon is expected to provoke up to 10 million annual deaths by 2050 (O'Neill, 2014), possibly the first death cause worldwide. This has lead the United Nations to declare antibiotic resistance as one of the greatest threats to global public health.
Resistant bacterial infections: Choosing our project aim
Antibiotic resistance is an exponential growing problem around the world and it has a very serious social impact. Looking for a solution to this problem we focused on a gastrointestinal pathogen, Clostridioides difficile. This bacteria infected patients in 21 of the 29 hospitals of Costa Rica from 2011-2014. Even one of our team members has suffered from this illness.
Problems:
Awareness for antibiotic resistance is lacking
There is a worldwide lack of knowledge on the subject of microbial resistance to antibiotics and Costa Rica is not the exception. Globally, the main cause of this problem is the misuse of antibiotics, leading to the survival of some resistant bacteria, able to spread again. Also, the bad waste management of these drugs contributes to increase resistant bacteria. This bacteria can later transfer their resistance to human microbiota (van Rijn et al., 2019).
Research is being conducted to discover new antibiotics. However, only two new antibiotic classes (lipopeptides and oxazolidinones) have been developed and approved by international drug agencies (US Food and Drug Administration and European Medicines Agency) in the last three decades (Tacconelli et al., 2018). The field of antibiotics is not lucrative enough for pharmaceutical companies and newly discovered compounds remain similar in function to current antibiotics. As a result, only a few large companies such as GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, Merck and Roche are still actively engaged in antibiotic research and development (Jackson, Czaplewski & Piddock, 2018).
During our problems exploration we realized antibiotic resistance consists on the two problems mentioned above. Therefore, we decided to go out the lab to help create awareness on antibiotic resistance in our country and prove the prevalence of antibiotic resistance bacteria using the agar antibiotic resistance test.
Larger agar antibiotic resistance test
We went to the streets to have a closer encounter with people. In total we sampled 10 different places of Costa Rica: La Agonía Park in Alajuela, Central Park in Heredia, Central Park in Cartago and seven different places in San Jose (Central Park, El Mercado Central, La Sabana Metropolitan Park, France Park and the buses stations from Limón, Puntarenas and Liberia). We talked to 100 Costa Ricans, explained them a little bit of our problem and sampled their mouth with sterile swabs and following the National Health Ministry regulations. Samples were grown in petri dishes supplemented with amoxicillin (antibiotic most commonly used in Costa Rica) for 24h at 37 °C.
References
Jackson, N., Czaplewski, L., & Piddock, L. J. (2018). Discovery and development of new antibacterial drugs: learning from experience?. Journal of Antimicrobial Chemotherapy, 73(6), 1452-1459.
O’Neill, J. (2014). Antimicrobial resistance. Tackling a Crisis for the Health and Wealth of Nations.
Tacconelli, E., Carrara, E., Savoldi, A., Harbarth, S., Mendelson, M., Monnet, D. L., ... & Ouellette, M. (2018). Discovery, research, and development of new antibiotics: the WHO priority list of antibiotic-resistant bacteria and tuberculosis. The Lancet Infectious Diseases, 18(3), 318-327.
van Rijn, M., Haverkate, M., Achterberg, P., & Timen, A. (2019). The public uptake of information about antibiotic resistance in the Netherlands. Public Understanding of Science, 28(4), 486-503.