What are the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)?
“The best way to predict the future is to create it.” - Peter Drucker
In a world filled with challenges and problems that threaten the lives of millions on Earth, and indeed Earth itself, humanity has united to create a plan for a future known as the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). These goals were adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015 serving as a call to action from poverty and hunger to inequality and climate change. The SDGs provide a framework for collaboration among individuals organizations and governments with the aim of building a fairer, prosperous world for everyone by 2030
This amusing video creatively showcases how inspiration from civilization is woven into our present day efforts. It revolves around Tutankhamun—the pharaoh who rose from the afterlife—and his encounter with a member of AFCM Egypt Igem 2023. Initially uninterested in development goals this member discovers Tutankhamun's secret, behind his civilizations progress
Through this imaginative portrayal, we are reminded that sustainable development is not solely a pursuit but an eternal quest that transcends time, cultures and civilizations
With a touch of humor, creativity and a deep understanding of our past the video encourages us to embrace the Development Goals as a collective path, to a prosperous and harmonious future, for all of humanity
SDG #3: promoting health and well-being
Goal identification:
In order to achieve the goals of SDG 3, It demands Collaboration among Doctors, Policymakers, and communities all around the world. To have an impact on SDG 3 we need to improve the healthcare facilities, treat communicable and non-communicable diseases, and promote well-being for all.
Problem Identification:
We are aiming to improve the lives of millions of patients suffering from autoimmune diseases as they significantly affect the patient's quality of life. By providing a terminal treatment for autoimmune diseases, We Give the patients the opportunity to return to their normal daily lives without any suffering.
Our solution:
In our project we are developing cell-targeted therapy using mesenchymal stem cells to target autoimmune diseases. Our work has a direct impact on Sustainable Development Goal No. 3.
Goal 3 of promoting health and well-being can be considered the main goal of our project as a therapeutic project for autoimmune diseases, which is one of the most challenging types of diseases in its treatment because the current treatments can only manage the symptoms for a while and are not critical treatments, Simply we want to light a beacon of hope in the dark and challenging world of autoimmune diseases.
Our SUPER-Cell approach for treating rheumatoid arthritis using modified MSC aims to be evidence of a real treatment for one of the autoimmune diseases. Thus, Igniting the spark of Comfort in the hearts of autoimmune patients around the world to return to their normal lives again, away from the pain of diseases and the exorbitant costs of endless medications.
Our project is related to the noncommunicable diseases branch of Goal 3,
1- Target 3.4 (By 2030, reduce by one third premature mortality from non-communicable diseases through prevention, treatment and promotion of mental health and well-being) and Indicator number 3.4.1 (Mortality rate from cardiovascular disease, cancer, diabetes, or chronic respiratory diseases). Autoimmune diseases are a major type of non-communicable disease. By developing a new treatment for autoimmune diseases, our project has the potential to reduce mortality and achieve that target.
2- Target 3.b (Supporting the research and development of vaccines and medicines for communicable and non-communicable diseases) and indicator number 3.b.3 (Expenditure on research and development for new health technologies). As we develop a new treatment for autoimmune diseases that will be accessible to everyone who needs it.
Stakeholders Feedback
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Dr. Hany El Saadany
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Dr. Ezz El-Din Emad
Professor of Rheumatology & Clinical Immunology, Doctor of Medicine - MD, Ph.D. Int. Medicine & Rheumatology
Doctor Hany is one of the most respected and experienced immunologists in Egypt as he has been working in that field for over 25 years and has numerous publications in autoimmune disease including (Rheumatoid arthritis, Diabetes type 1, and Addison disease).
We presented the project to Doctor Hany from all aspects, even the human practices part, and the doctor was intrigued by our project from the moment we presented it to him as he started by talking about choosing MSC in our cell therapy, he lauded its anti-inflammatory properties which will result in an added layer of efficacy in our treatment and mentioned that the project as a whole is very promising not only in autoimmune diseases but in cell therapy application in general.
Doctor Ezz El-Din Emad is a brilliant post-graduate student who has a great passion and expertise in Immunology.
He talked with us about his fears of the possibility of the tumorigenicity of MSCs. Hence, we clarified that we have a suicidal gene system in MSCs called IC9 (Inducible Caspase-9) that works with external activation by CID (Chemical Inducer of Dimerization). Our solution received a great deal of praise from him as he described it as a “stop button”.
We took the feedback of such a young doctor as Dr. Ezz because we believe that the experience isn't the only reason of being privileged but also the passion which may be more innovative and creative. This is why we contacted Dr. Ezz for his great passion towards finding new treatments to severe autoimmune diseases.
SDG #8: Promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all
Goal identification:
SDG 8 aims to identify individuals who need support by providing work opportunities and contributing to workplace safety and fair labor practices. This is achieved by collaborating with individuals, community organizations and businesses which can help build an economy that fosters growth for everyone.
Problem identification:
The problem with autoimmune diseases, especially Rheumatoid Arthritis, is that they limit the productivity of the patients, giving them a hard time and putting them under the risk of losing their jobs due to physical ill-functioning and chronic pain.
Our solution:
Our project will have an impact on progress towards achieving SDG 8 which aims to promote sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all according to the United Nations (UN).
Our approach will reduce the number of patients who are suffering from autoimmune diseases. Every year, a countless number of workers lose their jobs because of autoimmune diseases. These laborers suffer from symptoms affecting their work capability and decreasing their productivity.
Our project aims at producing a radical treatment for autoimmune disease, particularly Rheumatoid Arthritis. Which in turn will help improve the physical well-being and overall health of the RA patients, by alleviating them from this physical burden and chronic illness of joint pain caused by Rheumatoid Arthritis. This will give them a better chance to engage easily in their work and daily activities more effectively without any obstacles. As a result, this will contribute to more productive employment and better economic growth by maintaining a healthy labor force.
The development of stem cell-based therapy for autoimmune diseases will supply more employment in healthcare industries and better occupation states. This approach will need more additional scientists and researchers to work on stem cell therapies and more opportunities in the biotechnology sector. On the other hand, this project will encourage more researches on stem cell therapies which will result in more innovation and development of new therapies and more economic growth in biotechnology industry.
The bioeconomy:
The bioeconomy is growing rapidly in the United States and will continue and duplicate in the coming years, As in 2016 it contributed 402.5$ billion dollars to US GDP and has a direct effect on employing over 4 million one people. We believe that by developmenting of our project and increasing the applications of biotechnology in our country it would have a major impact on our economic growth and contribute to increase our GDP and provide more employment opportunities for a wide range of people.
Stakeholders Feedback
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A Petrol Company
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A Nursing House
During our visit to a petrol company in Egypt, Alexandria we met the manager of the company and several workers and simply presented our project to understand then we did a survey about Autoimmune diseases and the results showed that a large number of workers have already autoimmune diseases including RA in a specific manner and the disease affects the efficiency of their work and causes pain with working.
The survey included their feedback about a critical treatment for Autoimmune diseases that affect the disease itself not only the symptoms like current treatments, The Majorty were interested in being informed of the results when we finish our project because the people who already have the disease or the people who are at risk.
During our journey, to confirm that there is a real direct relationship between our project and SDG 8, we wanted to reach people whose autoimmune diseases have seriously affected their professional career and also their source of income. Hence, we decided to visit a nursing house. While talking to the elderly there, we found that a lot of them were diagnosed with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) many years ago. Then, one of these patients started talking about how RA ruined his career and pushed him to an early retirement. As a result, he became a burden on his family instead of being the one who provided them with financial support all the time. He also mentioned that the prescribed drugs were the main reasons behind the exacerbation of his RA symptoms, as all these medicines helped only in relieving the pain without treating the disease itself. This has negatively affected his work efficiency as he could not perform his tasks properly anymore. Finally, he told us that if our treatment had existed at the time he was first diagnosed with RA, this would have saved his career and consequently would make a great impact on his future. He also mentioned that our platform could save all the manual workers from the risk of losing their decent jobs due to handicapping diseases like RA.
Finally, he told us that if our treatment had existed at the time he was first diagnosed with RA, this would have saved his career and consequently would make a great impact on his future. He also mentioned that our platform could save all the manual workers from the risk of losing their decent jobs due to handicapping diseases like RA.
SDG #9: Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization and foster innovation
Goal identification:
SDG 9 plays a role in achieving development. It greatly influences growth, job creation and social development. Developing countries must have access to infrastructure and industrialization to improve their status and enhance their overall quality of life. The five targets of SDG 9 aim at developing high quality infrastructure that's reliable and sustainable while promoting industrialization. Additionally, they seek to increase access to services, upgrade existing infrastructure for sustainability purposes and enhance research as well as technological capabilities. Accomplishing these targets will ensure a future that's environmentally sound for all individuals.
Problem identification:
During the development of our stem-cell approach we faced many limitations such as the shortage of experts in the field of biotechnology and shortage in the infrastructure for this sector.
Our solution:
We are using our project for the treatment of Rheumatoid Arthritis and other autoimmune, which addresses the sustainable goal of development No.9 which is to Build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation.
Our approach sums between the advancement in two fields, Which are Genetic Engineering and Medical Research. Using our approach we are facing the challenges of the chronic inflammatory autoimmune diseases using Synthetic Biology. We are developing an approach using mesenchymal stem cells to reach a terminal treatment for rheumatoid arthritis and other autoimmune diseases.
The development and applications of cell-targeted mesenchymal stem cell therapy can have a direct impact on different dimensions of SDG No.9, It is considered an outbreak in the industry of drug development and an innovative approach for autoimmune diseases. Additionally, It represents the extent of development in Genetic engineering and Biotechnology And the possibility of revolutionizing Medical treatment for many diseases. Moreover, scientists may use synthetic biology to target the roots of autoimmune diseases and eliminate them, which will be beneficial for the patients in the end.
Our innovative approach will encourage the development of healthcare infrastructure because synthetic biology-based therapies will become more prevalent, And will need specialized medical facilities and experts in the field of biotechnology. This need will lead to the establishment of better healthcare facilities and more job opportunities, At the end strengthening our healthcare systems and building strong infrastructure.
Stakeholders Feedback
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Doctor Yasser Ayman (IGEM ambassador)
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Dr. Yasser Ahmed Farghaly
Doctor Yasser was a AFCM student team leader who was steering the team towards giving its fullest potential,Doctor Yasser has an exquisite talent in writing scenes, directing and video editing. And an expert in Igem for over 5 years.
Dr. Yasser explained to us his great admiration for the section on Human Practice that had been implemented, and he also expressed some of his observations on some of the critical points that had already been reconsidered and modified thanks to him, such as the parts.
Finally, he told us that the project will be an actual development in the therapeutic approaches that will be a big source of an inspiration for the future iGEM teams in the therapeutic track.
Dr. Yasser Ahmed Farghaly: Consultant Pharmacist Instructor of pharmaceutical marketing, school of business, Executives Education Department, American University in Cairo (AUC)
We met Dr. Yasser Farghaly and he talked with us about the pharmaceutical market and with us and mentioned that all the pharmaceutical companies aim to reach the best therapy with the best price and added “ With such an extraordinary mission to change the world, we need extraordinary people to achieve it.”. As he described our project as an untraditional treatment and innovative idea away from the traditional treatment from pharmaceutical companies
The potential long-term social,economic and environmental impact
Potential Long-Term Social Impact
Our SUPER-Cell approach will have an evident long term social impact, as autoimmune diseases affect the lives of millions of patients, limiting their social life and puting them in social isolation, affecting their emotional well-being, impairing their productivity and all aspects of their lives. With our therapy, patients can return to their jobs again, as well as engage freely in social life and enhance their general emotional state.
Potential Long-Term Economic Impact
The effect of our treatment on the potential long-term economic impact will be clear and effective, as all current treatments only manage the symptoms, not the disease itself, which puts the patient in an endless cycle of expensive medications that will be a financial burden on him and his government throughout his life, while our treatment will be a treatment that is taken Once in a lifetime. After the patient receives our treatment, the MSC will always remain in his body, waiting for any danger to eliminate, which means providing him lifelong protection from the disease, in addition to avoiding the huge amounts of money that would have been spent on surgeries and medical services related to the disease.
Potential Long-Term Environmental Impact
The potential long-term impact of our project on the environment could be significant, As our therapy will reduce the usage of prescription medication. The prescription medications require many environmental resources such as water, energy, and chemicals. Also, the disposal of these drugs could be a massive threat to the environment. Our treatment depends mainly on mesenchymal stem cells and these cells can be obtained from the umbilical cord, consequently, conserving the resources used for the prescription medications and also, does not pose a threat to the environment.
The positive and negative long-term interactions of Our work with other SDGs:
Positive interactions
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Goal 3: Promoting Good Health and Well being
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Goal 8: Encouraging Decent Work and Economic Growth
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Goal 9: Industry, Innovation and Infrastructure
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SDG 10: Reduced Inequalities
Autoimmune diseases are chronic diseases that greatly affect the patient’s quality of life. The SUPER project can improve the lives of millions of patients by providing a terminal cure for these diseases, allowing patients to return to their normal daily lives without any suffering.
Autoimmune diseases reduce the productivity of the workers and increase healthcare costs which have a direct impact on the economy, Our super project will provide workers with full productive employment without worrying about their illness, will decrease the healthcare costs accompanied by long-term treatments and increased hospitality, Finally reducing the whole economic burden of autoimmune diseases.
We are developing a new and innovative approach to curing autoimmune diseases using stem cells. Our project will have the leading role in revolutionizing the way autoimmune diseases are treated and could lead to the development of new innovative treatments for other diseases. Our project is also helping in the building of the medical infrastructure by training scientists and researchers in the fields of synthetic biology and biotechnology.
Rheumatoid arthritis and autoimmune diseases affect certain populations. Our project for providing terminal treatment for these conditions could contribute to reducing health inequalities.
negative interactions
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SDG 1: Eradicating Poverty
Our project could be expensive in the early stages and can be hard to afford for developing countries. This issue could widen the gap between rich and poor countries. So, we are doing our best in order to address this issue and give the poor countries the opportunity to afford the treatment and achieve the desired health outcomes.
Goal #17: Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development
Our collaboration with Tsinnghua-TFL
We made a collaboration with Tsinnghua-TFL team on a SDG handbook. The handbook serves as a guide for future teams wishing to explore sustainable development towards achieving the goals of SDG 17 (Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development).
We documented in our Chapter in the handbook Our project description, our team photo, A summary of our efforts towards each SDG goal we chose, and Our tips and advice for future iGEM teams.
Africa Health Excon
Is an African medical Exhibition and Conference that aims to be the continental hub for innovation and trade in Africa. The event Goals are directed towards having an impact on Goal no 3 of sustainable development goals (SDG 3) which is to Ensure healthy lives and promote well-being for all at all ages. Africa Health ExCon seeks to refocus the minds of all those operating in the Health and Pharma business on Africa's investment potential and thrive in the healthcare industry in Africa through the right sourcing of products and equitable distribution to contribute to the continent's Health Agenda in ensuring equitable access of quality health technology products and services to all African Countries.
We benefited greatly from participating in the Africa Health ExCon 2023 conference. The conference provided us with an opportunity to communicate, present our project, and receive feedback from experts on the impact of our project on SDG 3. This feedback helped us improve our approach in order to meet as many SDGs as possible
Our advices and tips for Future iGEM teams about SDGs
1. Understand the SDGs:
Try to read about the goals from the United Nations website to understand more about the goals and the targets that are sub-them, and try to interconnect the goals and know how they affect each other.
2. Choose a relevant SDG:
Choose SDG goals that are interconnected with your team's interests, work and sources, and make sure that your project can add a fact and change the problem associated with this goal.
3. Conduct thorough research:.
Delve deep into published scientific research related to your SDG goals in order to have comprehensive and broad-minded knowledge
And understand the current state of scientific research related to the project furthermore solutions and gaps that need to be done and understood more
4. Contact Stakeholders:
Try to reach expert stakeholders in order to benefit from their experience in the goal chosen by your team, and we also prefer the idea of not relying entirely on experience in gaining knowledge, as the passion may be more innovative, try to communicate with stakeholders who have a real passion for the goal you chose, as we did and we communicated with Dr. Ezz El-Din to benefit from him despite his young age and that he is a recent graduate
Our Education about SDGs
We take part in the yearly new-student orientation lectures at Tanta University.
We talked about SynBio and iGEM competition and we did a talk about the SDGs and presented our AFCM-IGEM 2023 SDGs short film to make them know what the SDGs as the majority of them weren't familiar with the expression, we talked about the importance of SDGs and how they address the most pressing challenges facing our world today, The SDGs are universal and can be applied to all countries in order to have better future for all.
We talked about the impact of our project on the SDGs and gave them the experience on how to guide their future projects in order to have the greatest impact on the SDGs.
Conclusion
Our goal is to give autoimmune patients the keys to unlock their full potential We are excited to be at the forefront of this innovative new treatment approach Our SUPER project aims for a new approach for the treatment of autoimmune diseases using mesenchymal stem cells, which will have an instant impact on the quality of life for the patients and their families, and have a significant contribution to the goals of sustainable development.
References
- https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals/good-health?gclid=CjwKCAjwvfmoBhAwEiwAG2tqzBe8nPk47pjObW1FH-yyutbcg8MtdZ-iokpL3O5YbIuYTosMNK385BoC8tsQAvD_BwE
- https://autoimmune.org/disease-information/rheumatoid-arthritis-ra/
- https://www.who.int/news-room/fact-sheets/detail/noncommunicable-diseases
- https://sdgs.un.org/goals/goal3
- https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals/decent-work-and-economic-growth
- https://rheumatology.org/patients/rheumatoid-arthritis
- https://www.undp.org/sustainable-development-goals/industry-innovation-and-infrastructure