Integrated Human Practices
We integrated our Human Practices in two different respects. The first was scientific; wherein we took onboard advice from Robert Smith, Lara Allyon and Adolfo Mejía-Montero to develop a 'more than human practices' approach. The second was in business development, an area in which our team had no prior experience. We spoke to Ross McLennan, Morgan Richards, Richard Curtin and Lousia Cilenti to answer questions such as: how do we develop a business model? How do we enter a large Market and how do we approach investors?
Scientific Integration
Histidine Lysine Overexpression
Our Question: How would a Biophotovoltaic cell be used and implemented around the world and what are some of the social consequences of large-scale energy projects?
Expert we Reached out to: We reached out to Dr Adolfo Mejía-Montero at the University of Edinburgh. Adolfo is a lecturer in energy, society and sustainability with research interests in energy justice, sustainable energy systems and development in Latin America and indigenous communities.
Advice and Implementation: We learned that with conventional utility-scale renewable energy projects there is often great injustice in their construction, particularly with regard to indigenous communities. Indigenous communities in the past have had large projects constructed on their land but often receive little to no benefits and have few mechanisms for them to oppose their construction. The projects are often harmful to their local natural environment or beauty. He emphasised that many indigenous communities in Latin America are proud of their local environment, and there is a strong tradition of conservationism among indigenous communities as well.
We discussed ideas for how we could alter our science or hardware to improve our panels and incorporate more ethical product design into our biophotovoltaic cells. The idea of utilising cyanobacteria to feed bees was first raised here. Dr Adolfo Mejía-Montero was excited by this idea for conservationism and we first began to think about and brainstorm how we could engineer cyanobacteria to this function. We began to look at the idea of improving the nutritional content of the bacteria, noting that cyanobacteria are similar nutritionally to pollen in terms of amino acid content with the exception of histidine and lysine.
Our Question: How can our panel best contribute towards a just energy transition?
Expert we Reached out to: We reached out to Lara Santos Ayllon, a PhD student focussing on the just energy transition, responsible research and innovation, and renewable energy technologies.
Advice and Implementation: Lara introduced us to the concept of multispecies justice. Wherein when we consider a just energy transition it cannot simply include the wants of humans and must also take into account the need for sustainability and justice when it comes to other species as well.
Our Question: What are some tips for performing human practices and how can we best integrate them?
Expert we Reached out to: We reached out to Dr Rob Smith from the University of Edinburgh. Rob is a senior research fellow in the School of Social and Political Sciences with research interests in the social studies of biology and medicine. He also is very experienced with iGEM teams and assisting with human practices. We were in regular contact with Rob Smith updating him with the state of our human practices.
Advice and Implementation: We took what we learned from our human practices to Rob Smith who encouraged us to look into the history of human practices in iGEM. Human practices began and was first coined in the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Centre (Synberc). Human practices in synthetic biology was first developed in recognition of the fact that much of the research being done is controversial. Not least because of the safety concerns of the public but also the social and ethical concerns of developing the technology. Ignoring the attitudes of the general public was likely to hinder the adoption of the technology as well as future research. Other than safety, much of human practices focusses on user-friendly design. This is design that makes it as easy as possible for the user to interact with the product. We decided to follow a 'more than human practices' approach. One in which not just the concerns of specific interest groups and those the project directly affects are taken into account. But also takes into account the effects on other species and the broader societal good. From here we began work in earnest on the idea of the overexpression of histidine and lysine in cyanobacteria to make artificial pollen for bee conservation.
Salinity
Our Question: How can we reduce the amount of resistance encountered in our medium?
Expert we Reached out to: We got in contact with Dr Jamie Marland, a lecturer in microelectronics at the centre for Engineering Biology.
Advice and Implementation:Jamie discussed with us the ways in which we could develop our hardware in order to improve the power output of a biophotovoltaic cell. One simple way to reduce the resistance of the medium and therefore improve the power output of a biophotovoltaic cell is to increase the concentration of electrolytes in the medium. A simple way to do this is to add salt. Furthermore, conductivity increases linearly with the amount of salt added. So being able to add the highest amount of salt possible, without being a significant detriment to the cell where the costs outweigh the benefits should be done.
In order to increase the salt tolerance of our cyanobacteria strain, we decided to perform directed evolution utilising error-prone PCR on the ggpS gene (glucosylglycerol phosphate synthase). This is the key rate-limiting enzyme in the pathway for glucosylglycerol. Glucosylglycerol is a compatible solute that is the primary mechanism for salt tolerance in the model cyanobacteria strain synechocystis sp. PCC 6803.
Entrepreneurship
Our Question: None of our team have any experience in developing a business. So how do we get started in making a business plan?
Expert we Reached out to: Ross McLennan is an enterprise executive at Edinburgh Innovations. Edinburgh Innovations is the University of Edinburgh's commercialisation service.
Advice and Implementation: Ross provided us with wide-ranging and reassuring advice that inspired us to continue looking into business development. He suggested we look for as broad a market as possible to avoid falling into a specific niche. Ross also suggested that investors tend to look at team organisation and commitment as the best indicator of a startup's success. The biggest bottleneck for a startup is getting a product out of the lab and from there the team's commitment, work ethic and a bit of luck play are the main factors. Much of the discussion also focussed on patenting and IP. Ross McLennan explained these are crucial for a new startup's success. iGEM is a competition with the principle of open science at its core. We were therefore at first relatively averse to discussion of Non-disclosure agreements and intellectual property. However, Ross convinced us to look into how patenting is done and what sorts of technology could be developed after and aside from iGEM.
Our Question: How is patenting done and is this completely at odds with iGEM as an open science competition?
Expert we Reached out to: Richard Curtin is the IP and patent manager at Edinburgh Innovations and a colleague of Ross McLennan
Advice and Implementation: Richard suggested that if we wanted to look into and launch a business off of iGEM, we would have to keep some of our research separate from the project. He also advised us to look into whether CynergisED would infringe on any existing patents and how disclosing our innovations would enable freedom to operate analysis from an expert. We conducted an independent search through online patent databases and concluded that existing patents would not hinder our freedom to operate. However, it would be necessary to have a qualified IP attorney verify this assessment.
From this, we were able to develop an initial business plan with clear next steps for CynergisED that can be found in Entrepreneurship here on our Wiki!
Alexander Ulyashin - Research Engineer at SINTEF
Why did we contact them: Alexander has more than 15 years of experience in the solar energy industry, and we wanted to learn more about what the industry was focusing on improving on current solar panels. Since he is a research scientist it was possible to talk about what is the focus of the research in his company (what aspects the industry is trying to focus on).
Highlights: 'It is a green product but not a green technology' Alexander on the recyclability of traditional solar panels and their manufacture.
Summary: It was confirmed that current solar panels are not very easily recyclable because it is not possible to separate the elements from the panel effectively to make sense economically. The industry is also not focusing on waste or making solar panels much more eco-friendly, but focusing on making them thinner(2 mm in thickness!!), more resistant and adaptable.
Discussion: Would a bio-based solar panel help with the recyclability of PV panels?
Yes, but we need to think about the infrastructure that would be needed for our panel and what would happen to the bacteria afterward.
Ross McLennan - Enterprise Executive at Edinburgh Innovations
Why did we contact them: Ross has extensive experience in business and works at the University of Edinburgh commercialisation service. We met with him to develop our business model and get general advice since he supports entrepreneurs in the early stages.
Highlights: 'Cynergised has the potential to become a business but make sure you look for big markets to avoid falling into niche markets.'
Summary: The meeting was very inspirational and gave some direction to start looking into the business development part of our project. We were recommended to meet with NDA and to look into the patentable aspect of our project, as no IP means no business. He also advised us to form a committed team if we were to start a company out of CynergisED since Venture Capitalists invest in teams using the management of a team as an indicator of the company's likelihood of success.
Morgan Richards - Co-founder ValleyDAO
Why did we contact them: Morgan is the co-founder of ValleyDAO which is a global community that finances and democratises access to synthetic biology, he focuses on Climate Tech. We met with him because we wanted to have a global perspective on how our project could be accessible to everyone and implemented.
Summary: We found out that Morgan's honours project was also on photosynthetic organisms! He really liked our project and that it could have a future. He also referred us to the energy sector & regenerative finance department since they could help us with funding.
Professor Chris French - Personal Chair of Microbial Biotechnology at the University of Edinburgh, Member of Arsenic Biosensor Collaboration
Why did we contact them: Chris French was part of the Arsenic Biosensor Collaboration; this project aimed to implement a biosensor in Nepal, Bangladesh and India to measure the levels of arsenic wells. This project failed to be implemented because it fell between two regulatory paradigms. After meeting with Lalitha, we wanted to know what kind of advice we could get from someone who was part of the project, so we contacted Prof Chris French.
Summary: He advised us to look at US, UK and EU GMO regulations. It was discussed whether our solar panel would be considered a contained system since gas exchange occurs through a physical barrier. We also talked about possible aspects that could go wrong with the kill switch (mutations in nuclease and zinc being present in the environment). Our synthetic pollen production from our cyanobacteria was also addressed, how we would make our cells inviable and dried out to make it easier GMO regulation-wise. He also gave us feedback on our kill switch and said our design looked reasonable, but we should take into consideration that genetic containment systems are prone to fail due to mutations.
Richard Curtin - IP & Patent Manager at Edinburgh Innovations
Why did we contact them: After we met with Ross, we wanted to talk to someone about the patent so we could discuss our ideas. We met with Richard to discuss how patentable our idea is and how this could be influenced by the fact that iGEM is an open science competition.
Summary: We were advised to keep some aspects of our project separate from iGEM if we want to start a business to secure IP. Richard advised us to search for a patent & trademark in available databases and potentially trademark our name. We also discussed how obvious our inventive steps are to a specialist in the field, and we were also recommended to look into University interests and third-party IP rights. Richard also forwarded us to the Patent Attorney affiliated with Edinburgh Innovations so we could at that aspect in more detail.
Adolfo Mejía-Montero - Researcher in Energy, Society and Sustainability (with a focus on Latin America)
Why did we contact them: We were not sure what kind of business model we wanted to adopt for CynergisED, or the final recipients of our panel. Because of this, we wanted to learn about the different perspectives and policies around renewable energy, how open people are to it around the world and if it is accessible. We contacted Adolfo because he works with the renewable energy landscape in South America but on the social side.
Highlights: 'The fact that you could use your panel to help pollinators, besides producing energy, is a great selling point for people who want to make more sustainable choices. Also, make sure you avoid destroying natural landscape for your panels.'
Summary: We talked about how the landscape in South America is for renewable energy and which is more predominant. The meeting focused more on Mexico, where Adolfo is from, and who we wanted our panels to be for. Having our project as a community project came to the conversation as to whether our panel could be installed in remote areas for indigenous people. Adolfo told us a brief timeline of what has happened in Mexico in the last 30 years; now, the country is focused much more on sustainability, and people are not too happy about GMs. We concluded that if we ever wanted to implement our project in Mexico, we needed to communicate openly and not just give leaflets. People want to make an informed decision today, and Adolfo told us that if we don't communicate more about our project, people will very likely be refused for being GM.
Jamie Marland - Lecturer in microelectronics at the centre for Engineering Biology
Why did we contact them: We were getting low power output from our prototype biophotovoltaic cells and so we were looking for ways in which we could improve our hardware to get improvements outside of more engineering of the cyanobacteria.
Highlights: 'It doesn't seem like an overwhelmingly large resistance to me'
Summary: Jamie was incredibly helpful in answering many of our hardware questions. We walked away with a far better understanding of bioelectronics and electrochemistry. The discussion covered all aspects of hardware such as dimensions as well as materials for both the chassis and importantly, the electrodes. Another of our most pertinent questions was if it would be best to get the cyanobacteria to form biofilms on the electrodes to get direct contact between their membranes and the electrode. Jamie explained that this is an open question and explained that the distance between the membrane and electrode would need to be within nanometres for direct transfer and so only a thin layer of cyanobacteria may benefit from this. This meeting was the main driver behind starting the directed evolution project to enhance salinity tolerance and improve conductivity.
Louisa Cilenti - Consultant Partner & Co-founder pH3 Capital Ventures
Why did we contact them: Louisa provides business support and commercialises low-carbon technologies. We wanted to discuss the business landscape of CynergisED after the grand jamboree if we wanted to start a company out of the project.
Highlights: 'You would be disrupting an industry that is very comfortable with itself.'
Summary: Louisa was very helpful and gave very useful feedback on our presentation of the project. She also gave helpful tips on how to approach investors, especially venture capitalists, if we ever gained IPR. She advised us to look into what markets we wanted to target but also avoid falling into niche markets; additionally, she told us that we should find governmental bodies that we could partner with so our panels are installed on top of urban buildings.
Robert Smith - Researcher in Governance & Democracy Science, knowledge and policy
Why did we contact them: We contacted Rob because we needed some direction in our HP work. Rob has helped iGEM teams at the University of Edinburgh for a few years so he knows what we should focus on more.
Highlights: 'Your project is very original, but you need to think who your panels are for.'
Summary: Rob helped us understand how governance impacts projects like ours and how policy and regulation haven't changed very much for GM projects in the EU but he couldn't give us details. We decided that we needed to focus on the policy/regulation side of the project to know what we should focus on the safety switch side. Also, try to talk with someone from the government to find out how Scotland is investing in renewable energy and what would be the major limitations of our project.
Professor Mathew Williams - Chief Environmental Advisor for the Scottish Government
Why did we contact them: Prof Matthew is the advisor for the Scottish government on all this environment and works on renewable energy strategies for the country as well. After meeting with Louisa and her advice on partnering with a governmental body, we wanted to ask if this was doable and if so, what things we should target on the project.
Highlights: 'I think your project would be a very good way to provide electricity to refugee camps and other remote areas since there is not much infrastructure'.
Summary: Prof Matthew told us about the renewable energy landscape in Scotland, and we learned that wind is the most invested in, but solar is second. He told us that we needed to make our panel strong and resilient to the Scottish weather.
Lara Allyon - PhD researcher at the University of Edinburgh (Energy&Sustainability, Environment and energy)
Why did we contact them: After meeting with Adolfo, we wanted to explore more how to make our project assessable and be part of a just energy transition, but this time, focused on Scotland. So we contacted Lare, her PhD is focusing on just energy transition in Scotland focused on wind, but we thought we could still exchange ideas and learn from her research and apply it not just to our business model but to our project design as well.
Highlights: 'The best way to make your project open and accessible to others is by talking to them and knowing what is stopping them from using projects like yours. It is not possible to represent absolutely every 'voice' but at least try.'
Summary: This meeting was amazing; Lara told us about Multispecies Justice and Climate Futures and how we could apply them to our project. So many ideas were exchanged, and this meeting made us think about what we wanted our project to be in the long term.
Discussion:
Dr Efe Scott-Emuakpor and Dr Phil Walsh - GMBSO and Safety Manager, School of Biological Sciences, University of Edinburgh and University Biological Safety Adviser, University of Edinburgh
Why did we contact them: We still had a few questions regarding the safety aspects of our project. We had a containment system for our bacteria and a kill switch, but what could we do to make sure our synthetic pollen could be used by beekeepers? We contacted Efe Scott to understand what characteristics our pollen had to have to follow current UK regulations, but also what kind of risk assessment our product would have to go through to be released to the market.
Highlights: 'If the cyanobacteria are fully (100%) inactivated using the relevant validated method in the GM risk assessment then they are no longer classed as GMOs for the purposes of the GMOCU Regs and are just biological materials.' (Dr Phil Walsh)
Summary: After this meeting, it was obvious that our synthetic pollen could not have any living bacteria to not be applicable to GM regulations and be easier to release to the market. After this meeting, we decided to meet someone with a more specific background in synthetic biology regulations, so we met with Lalitha Sundaram.
Lalitha Sundaram - Research Associate in Biological Risk at the University of Cambridge
Why did we contact them: After meeting with Robert and all the other policy and regulation experts, we wanted to see the regulation side of the project in more detail and if our safety switch fit and it was enough to pass the regulations checks in theory. We contacted Lalitha because she released a paper this year entitled 'Synthetic Biology Regulation in Europe: containment, release and beyond' which we found very applicable to our project.
Highlights: 'It is great you thought about a containment system and a kill switch for this since it would make a great difference regulation-wise. Also, they don't like organisms with antibiotic resistance genes, so do have that into account.'
Summary: We presented our project to Lalitha and focused a lot on our kill switch. Lalitha told us that the regulation is changing but very slowly; most projects making these changes are for medicine. She told us to look at what happened with the field-use biosensor intended to detect arsenic in well water in Nepal and Bangladesh since this project is synthetic biology and ended up not being released to the market or used. She also told us that we would probably need to find a way to not have antibiotic resistance genes in our final engineered organisms since regulatory bodies do not accept products with these, mostly to contact the antibiotic crisis.
Interviews with the General Public
Why did we contact them: We wanted to get out, speak to the general public and share our project. We were also running a bake sale to raise funds for our project to go to Paris, so this provided a unique opportunity to hear the general public's views on our project.
Highlights: 'Choose your catastrophe!'
Summary: We conducted interviews with the general public during Edinburgh's world-famous Fringe Festival. The reception from the public was overwhelmingly warm and generally enthusiastic about the possibilities of GMOs. This may be due, however, to a desire not to be rude. The vast majority of the concern surrounded safety along with a few individuals raising some ethical and religious concerns.