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Introduction

What is Human Practices?

On this page you will find: Questions you might consider, Getting Started, Human Practices Hub, and FAQ.

"Human Practices is the study of how your work affects the world, and how the world affects your work."
— Peter Carr, Director of Judging

Which problems can synthetic biology best help to solve? The process of developing solutions to real-world problems in ways that are socially responsible, sustainable, safe, and inclusive, is what we call Human Practices.

These issues are complex, and real-world problems don’t have a single or simple answer, so Human Practices work requires looking beyond the lab. Inviting stakeholder input, building interdisciplinary collaborations, and understanding relevant regulations and codes of conduct are just a few ways to begin developing a responsible and impactful research project. Stakeholders can have different and sometimes conflicting values that can be equally valid.

Human Practices therefore requires you to think critically, be able to appreciate different views, and to co-develop solutions that best serve the concerned communities. By reaching out to and learning from diverse communities, iGEM teams are also creating opportunities for broader publics to help shape the practice of synthetic biology.

Questions you might consider

Human Practices involves investigating what it would mean for your project to be responsible and good for the world. Here are some questions you might consider:

Responsible

How might your team’s solution to one problem lead to other problems (e.g. social/political/ecological)? Could your project be misused?
How can your team anticipate and minimise the impact of these concerns?
What’s your plan to inform and work with relevant authorities or stakeholders of potential risks related to your project?
How might current policies and regulations apply to your project? Are they sufficient, and if not, how might they be changed?
How does the iGEM community expect your team to be safe and responsible, both inside and outside of the lab?

Good

In what ways might your project benefit society?
Which communities may be most interested or most affected by your project?
Which communities may be left out or negatively impacted if your project succeeds?
How might you get feedback on the viability and desirability of your approach? How will you adapt your project based on this feedback?
How might your approach compare to alternative solutions to the same or similar problems (including approaches outside of biotechnology)?

Getting Started with Human Practices

Human Practices activities takes many shapes and forms. In trying to develop projects that are responsible and good for the world, iGEM teams must look beyond their lab.

A team visiting industry stakeholders

A team speaking with potential users

After iGEM Delegates visiting the United Nations

Teams have:

interviewed stakeholders who might make use of their work, like farmers, fashion designers, and factory workers
conducted environmental impact analyses
created museum exhibits and creative public engagement activities
written intellectual property guides
facilitated "white hat" biosecurity investigations
held forums with local legislators
spoken at the United Nations
developed tools to help other teams examine questions of ethics and responsibility
and much more!

Through these activities teams have engaged with topics and issues including ethics, safety, risk assessment, environmental impact, social justice, product design, scale-up and deployment, public policy, law and regulation, and much more. In each case these activities have helped shaped the goals, execution and communication of their projects.

The Human Practices Hub

We’ve put together this Human Practices hub to help you with your work. You can:

Learn how to succeed by incorporating Human Practices into every stage of your project
Watch our introductory video.
Check out exemplary projects from previous years.
Explore resources that can help guide your thinking.
Learn about the history of Human Practices in synthetic biology and iGEM.
Contact the Human Practices committee with any remaining questions!

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between Integrated Human Practices and Education and Public Engagement?

Integrated Human Practices must be related to some aspect of your project. Activities like arranging a general survey or hosting a workshop about synthetic biology may not directly relate to the main problem your team is trying to solve. Integrated Human Practices involves taking what you learn outside the lab and adapting your project in response.
The Education and Public Engagement special prize recognizes teams who develop new and innovative education and engagement activities that may not directly integrate back into their own projects. A new curriculum resource, an educational game, or a set of accessibility guidelines might be a very worthwhile contribution to the communication of synthetic biology, even if it wouldn’t much change the impact of your particular iGEM project on the world

What is the difference between the Gold and Silver medal criteria for Human Practices?

For the Silver medal, we ask that you think carefully and creatively about whether your work is responsible and good for the world. You need to investigate one or more Human Practices issues related to your project (through engaging with your relevant local, national and/or international communities, or through other creative approaches) and then document what you learn.
For the Gold medal, you must show that your investigation of HP issues has been integrated into the purpose, design, and/or execution of your project. We ask that you document how you have responded to what you learn. Did some aspects of your project change after your research or discussions? Why or why not? How did stakeholders react to changes you proposed? Answers to these kinds of questions are needed to meet the Gold medal criteria.

How do I connect with people or communities related to my project? Where do I start?

Don’t be shy! Many people are happy to speak to passionate iGEM team members. You might want to start with local businesses or nonprofits that do work related to your project or with experts whose work you’ve come across in your research.
When contacting someone, describe who you are and why you’re reaching out to them. Leave short emails or messages with specific questions, so it’s easy for them to respond if they have a tight schedule. Even if they don’t have time to talk, you can ask them to recommend other people for you to contact.
If you’re struggling, you can write to the human practices committee for further advice.

I’m doing a Foundational Advance project- how can I integrate Human Practices into it?

Even projects which aim to develop the technical aspects of synthetic biology, rather than apply them to a real-world problem, can have important societal implications. Some examples of Integrated Human Practices in Foundational Advance projects include Marburg 2018, who integrated what they learned from their engagement with visually-impaired high school students to make both their wiki and presentation accessible, and Heidelberg 2017, who developed software to screen DNA sequences produced by their directed evolution algorithms for any potential safety concerns.

I got advice from a professor at my university about my project– does this count as Human Practices?

We encourage teams to draw from as much expertise as possible in developing their projects. However, part of the goal of Human Practices at iGEM is to encourage teams to engage with issues that extend beyond the lab and even beyond their institution. While seeking expertise from professors may make up a part of your team’s Human Practices effort, we strongly recommend you also seek out input from more diverse communities.

I have an idea for something creative. How do I know if it counts as Human Practices?

Exploring and testing new and creative ideas is something we strongly encourage. We suggest that you take a look at past projects that may have tried similar ideas. If your creative work ties into the design and development of other aspects of your project, it may well be considered Integrated Human Practices. If you’re not sure, you can contact the Human Practices committee for guidance.

I want to conduct a survey, but I’m having trouble finding information about my country or institution’s rules on human research. What do I do?

It’s important to know that surveys will not count towards your medal criteria unless you comply with regulations on research involving human subjects and follow valid scientific survey design. You should review the iGEM policy on Human Subjects Research and the sections of the resources page on informed consent and writing valid surveys.
You can consult past iGEM projects, speak to your supervisors, or contact other researchers or teams who need to conduct human subjects research as part of their activities. Make sure you document your efforts so that future teams can build upon your work, so that judges can see your efforts, and so that iGEM knows that you have followed your local regulations.

Questions?

If you have questions or suggestions please email us at humanpractices@igem.org
We love hearing from teams as they explore synthetic biology as a humanpractice. Best of luck with your projects!

Human Practices/Introduction