Difference between revisions of "Team:NUS Singapore/Human Practices"

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em; margin-bottom:20px">Senior Consultant in the Department of Cardiology, National University Heart Centre
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                  </br></br><b>Specialised in: </b> Cardiology</div>
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                <b>Context:</b> We shared our project vision with healthcare professionals in Singapore and proposed the idea of cell-based continuous glucose monitor (CGM) which could potentially have a longer shelf life compared to cell-free CGM. This would be especially useful due to the prevalence of diabetes in Singapore.</br>
 +
                </br><b>What we learnt</b></br>
 +
                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
 +
                  <li>Existing cell-free CGM concepts contain microneedles, which need to be constantly replaced to ensure sterility. It would be helpful if cell-based CGMs can last longer to reduce the number of times patients have to change the sensor patch.</li>
 +
                  <li>It would be highly attractive if cell-based CGMs can be less bulky and invasive, while also having the ability to be a ‘sense and respond’. This would help to detect blood glucose levels and release insulin accordingly.</li>
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 +
                </ul>
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                </br><b>How we acted upon the feedback</b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
 +
                  <li>We included cell-based CGMs as a potential application which can benefit from our platform technology.</li>
 +
                  <li>Since it is not possible for bacteria cells to produce functional insulin on their own, we spun out a therapeutic use case where bacteria could otherwise “sense and respond”, for example in a pain relief patch.</li>
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                                  </ul>
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                </br><b>Quote: </b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li>“It is an impactful idea if the cells can sense and respond accordingly, in the context of therapeutics.”</li>
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                </ul>
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                  <div class="title">Dr. Tan Jun Guan</div>
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                  <div style="font-family: 'Montserrat', sans-serif; font-size:18px; font-weight:400; text-align:left; color:#143642; line-height:1.2em; margin-bottom:20px">Office in Chemical Pathology
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                  </br></br><b>Specialised in: </b> Diabetics</div>
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              </div>
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              <div class="horizontal-line-2"></div>
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                <b>Context:</b> We shared our project vision with healthcare professionals in Singapore and proposed the idea of cell-based continuous glucose monitor (CGM) which could potentially have a longer shelf life compared to cell-free CGM. This would be especially useful due to the prevalence of diabetes in Singapore.
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              </br>
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                </br><b>What we learnt</b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li>Cell-based CGMs may be possible in Singapore as long as its accuracy is within 5% of existing cell-free CGMs (adhering to International Organization for Standardization (ISO) guidelines).</li>
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                  <li>A good CGM should be small in size, accurate, safe, have a longer shelf-life, a longer productive lifespan before replacement and cheaper.</li>
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                  <li>For therapeutic applications where cells are used to “sense and respond”, high effectiveness and sensitivity are important standards to meet. </li>
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                </ul>
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                </br><b>How we acted upon the feedback</b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li>We included cell-based CGMs as a potential application which can benefit from our platform technology.</li>
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                  <li>We read up on work published by Prof Tim Lu on the potential of coupling cell-based therapeutics with soft materials such as hydrogels to form a composite ‘living material’, and conceptualized a “sense and response” hydrogel patch that would serve as an analgesic peptide dispenser.</li>
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                  <img src="https://2019.igem.org/wiki/images/0/0f/T--NUS_Singapore--Human_Practices_Photo_Usecase3.jpg" style="width:100%">
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                  <div class="title">Dr. Karen Polizzi</div>
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                  <div style="font-family: 'Montserrat', sans-serif; font-size:18px; font-weight:400; text-align:left; color:#143642; line-height:1.2em; margin-bottom:20px">Reader at the Department of Chemical Engineering, Imperial College London
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                  </br></br><b>Specialised in: </b> Biotechnology</div>
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                <b>Context:</b> We spoke with professors from our home university and around the world to share our project vision, as well as to gather some suggestions on the applications which we can demonstrate in this competition.</br>
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                </br><b>What we learnt</b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li>Cell-based biosensors do not necessarily have to express a lot of protein to detect environmental stimuli.</li>
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                  <li>Membrane proteins involved in sensing do not necessarily need to be of high level for biosensing as long as the proteins remain attached onto the membrane.</li>
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                <li>Diagnostic and therapeutic biosensors that have the ability to ‘sense and respond’ are limited in their functional lifespan. Having a longer functional lifespan would mean less hassle for the patient being treated and are thus good use cases for our project.</li>
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                </ul>
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                </br><b>How we acted upon the feedback</b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li>We included cell-based CGMs and pain relieving drug dispensers as potential applications which can benefit from our platform technology.</li>
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                  <li>We adopted a simple cell-based infection biosensor as a potential use case to demonstrate our technology.</li>
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                </ul>
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                </br><b>Quote: </b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li> “I think it sounds like a useful project and I don't know of a team that has done something similar.”</li>
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                  <div class="title">Prof. Sanjay Swarup</div>
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                  <div style="font-family: 'Montserrat', sans-serif; font-size:18px; font-weight:400; text-align:left; color:#143642; line-height:1.2em; margin-bottom:20px">Principal Investigator in Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation, National University Singapore; Associate Professor in the Department of Biological Science, National University of Singapore
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                  </br></br><b>Specialised in: </b> Environmental and Agricultural Systems Biology</div>
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              <div class="horizontal-line-2"></div>
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                <b>Context:</b> We wanted to investigate the possible uses of our project in the field of agriculture, especially relevant to Singapore due to the importance of food security in our nation.</br>
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                </br><b>What we learnt</b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li>The detection and killing of fungi already has a proposed cell-based solution as designed by Prof Swarup.</li>
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                  <li>Agriculture detection is usually an open-system application whereby engineered cells are susceptible to external stressors other than nutrient deprivation.</li>
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                </ul>
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                </br><b>How we acted upon the feedback</b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li>We re-evaluated the agricultural biosensor application and concluded that our platform technology is unable to comprehensively extend the functional lifespan of these bacteria as external stressors are implicated in the picture.</li>
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                  <div class="title">Ms. Emily Hicks</div>
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                  <div style="font-family: 'Montserrat', sans-serif; font-size:18px; font-weight:400; text-align:left; color:#143642; line-height:1.2em; margin-bottom:20px">President and Co-Founder at FREDsense Technologies</div>
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              <div class="horizontal-line-2"></div>
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                <b>Context:</b> We wanted to further explore the use of our technology in the commercial world of biosensors.</br>
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                </br><b>What we learnt</b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li>Their existing water quality monitoring device requires live cells to constantly be stored in fridge and only loaded into the cartridge when heavy metal detection is needed.</li>
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                  <li>The cells stored in fridge can stay viable and functional for up to 6 weeks time.</li>
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                  <li>Our platform technology might be very relevant and significant for their biosensor application because cell storage and extended functionality have always been major problems for their technology.</li>
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                  <li>Their technology demands for the ability to offset the requirement to store cells in fridge; otherwise the ability for cells to stay viable and functional for much longer than 6 weeks.</li>
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                </ul>
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                </br><b>How we acted upon the feedback</b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li>We included heavy metal detection as a major potential application which our platform technology can support.</li>
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              <li>We decided to study the ability of our engineered cells to produce reporter proteins (i.e GFP) for an extended amount of time to demonstrate the viability of our system.</li>
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              </ul>
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                </br><b>Quote: </b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li> “I think your project sounds interesting and relevant to our technology.”</li>
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                </ul>
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                  <div class="title">Mr. Prashant Mainali</div>
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                  <div style="font-family: 'Montserrat', sans-serif; font-size:18px; font-weight:400; text-align:left; color:#143642; line-height:1.2em; margin-bottom:20px">PhD student at the Engineering Biology Lab, National University of Singapore
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                  </br></br><b>Specialised in: </b> Nepal’s lighting problem</div>
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                <b>Context:</b> We wanted to understand if the problem of lighting in rural areas could be solved using bioluminescence.</br>
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                </br><b>What we learnt</b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li>Current light sources for rural areas include solar and hydropower.</li>
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                  <li>There are certain places with 1-2 months of no sunlight due to fog.</li>
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                  <li>Biolighting might not be able to compete cost-wise as current solutions are relatively cheap. But we can still compete on reliability as bioluminescent bacteria do not depend on external environmental changes.</li>
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                </ul>
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                </br><b>How we acted upon the feedback</b></br>
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                <ul class="list-unstyled modallist">
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                  <li>We continued to investigate the feasibility of bioluminescence in other rural areas.</li>
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                  <div class="title">Universitas Indonesia 2019 iGEM team</div>
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                  <div style="font-family: 'Montserrat', sans-serif; font-size:18px; font-weight:400; text-align:left; color:#143642; line-height:1.2em; margin-bottom:20px">Indonesia

Revision as of 20:18, 19 October 2019

NUS iGEM 2019


overview
A scientific project can never develop in isolation; it has to be continuously shaped by a variety of individuals in order to be truly impactful on society. Our Human Practices methodology consisted of multiple frameworks which allowed us to effectively interview experts, users and regulatory agencies.

This enabled us to gain insights into the different aspects of our project like:
  • a) Idea Formulation
  • b) Intended Applications
  • c) Ethical Assessment
  • d) Communication
The findings of our Human Practices work have been documented with the aim of answering two main questions:
  • i) “What did we learn from them?”
  • ii) “How did we act on their feedback?”
Our HP work also helped inform every stage of our DBTL cycle and served as an integral part of our overall project. Refer to our description page to know more about how our engineered bacteria can make an impact in the field of Synthetic Biology.
HUMAN PRACTICES METHODOLOGY

The aim of our project is to advance the field of Synthetic Biology by answering questions that are ingrained in its foundation. In order to develop a well-rounded project that makes a true contribution to mankind, we recognised the need to involve people from different segments of society. We established our three main objectives and formulated specialised methodologies to fulfill each one:

  • i) Idea Formulation
  • ii) Ethics and Safety
  • iii) Idea formulation

For idea formulation, in addition to reviewing literature, we consulted experts from around the world to seek their views on the technical feasibility of our Growth Switch and Growth Knob systems. To understand how our platform technology will impact current applications, we interviewed stakeholders in healthcare, biolighting, biosensors and bio-manufacturing. Their feedback not only shed light on potential areas with high demand but also pivoted us away from applications that our technology might not be suited for. In order to develop a truly impactful technology, it was important for us to consider the safety and ethicality of our work. We interviewed individuals from advisory committees to understand our responsibility of adhering to ethical norms and how we could fulfill it. Consequently, we identified the need for a biocontainment system for our long living bacteria. Through our HP work, we were able to explore critical aspects of our project and this ultimately spearheaded into integrated human practice.

Click on the buttons to read our human practices methodologies!

Idea Formulation

Expert interviews allowed us to draw on a vast amount of specialised knowledge in the most efficient manner.

Who did we interview?

Subject matter experts in the field of synthetic biology

Why did we choose to interview them specifically?

They authored papers that we read during the process of literature review.

What did we want from the interview?

1. To understand the feasibility of our idea (from a technical standpoint)

2. To check the validity of the assumptions we may have made

3. To fill gaps in our technical knowledge

Intended Applications

User interviews helped us to understand the needs and motivations of our potential stakeholders.

Who did we interview?

Clinicians, Companies, Laypeople

Why did we choose to interview them specifically?

We recognised them as potential stakeholders who may be interested in our technology.

What did we want from the interview?

1. To gather insights on the perception of our technology in each application

2. To understand the needs and motivations of our stakeholders

3. To understanding how our technology can better serve our stakeholders for each application

Ethical Assessment

Ethics Flow Charting allowed us to understand the ethical implications of our work by helping us visualise the consequences of each decision.

Who did we interview?

Regulatory authorities, Safety and Bioethics committee members

Why did we choose to interview them specifically?

They have extensive knowledge of existing guidelines and are well-informed about analysing such issues.

What did we want from the interview?

1. To understand the ethical and social implications of our work

2. To create a well-informed ethics flowchart pertaining to our work by filling in the ethical considerations and measures to be taken



INTEGRATED HUMAN PRACTICES

The interviews we conducted over the course of the project have been documented in the interactive timelines below. They contain information about how different people have impacted or shaped our project. For the respective individuals, we have included:


  • i) The context of the interview;
  • ii) The insights that we have gained;
  • iii) And how their feedback influenced our project

Click on the buttons and dots to find out more about each interview!

em; margin-bottom:20px">Senior Consultant in the Department of Cardiology, National University Heart Centre 

                 </br></br>Specialised in:  Cardiology</div>
               </div>
             </div>

               Context: We shared our project vision with healthcare professionals in Singapore and proposed the idea of cell-based continuous glucose monitor (CGM) which could potentially have a longer shelf life compared to cell-free CGM. This would be especially useful due to the prevalence of diabetes in Singapore.</br>
               </br>What we learnt</br>
  • Existing cell-free CGM concepts contain microneedles, which need to be constantly replaced to ensure sterility. It would be helpful if cell-based CGMs can last longer to reduce the number of times patients have to change the sensor patch.
  • It would be highly attractive if cell-based CGMs can be less bulky and invasive, while also having the ability to be a ‘sense and respond’. This would help to detect blood glucose levels and release insulin accordingly.
               </br>How we acted upon the feedback</br>
  • We included cell-based CGMs as a potential application which can benefit from our platform technology.
  • Since it is not possible for bacteria cells to produce functional insulin on their own, we spun out a therapeutic use case where bacteria could otherwise “sense and respond”, for example in a pain relief patch.
               </br>Quote: </br>
  • “It is an impactful idea if the cells can sense and respond accordingly, in the context of therapeutics.”
           </div>
         </div>
       </div>