Country Profile

Chile

SYNBIO PROFILE

Chile is in its way to build a robust Biotech and SynBio. Many startup companies and universities, are very active in the in the field.

PARTICIPATION IN THE iGEM COMPETITION

Snce 2012

Times registered in 2012: UC_Chile (1st time)

The overall objective is to make controlled circadian rhythms functionality with long-term bioluminescence, bioluminescent producing cyanobacteria that illuminate during dusk and regenerate /reloads the substrates during the day.

Times registered in 2013: UC_Chile

Reengineer the carboxyssim a bacterial microcompartment (BMC) to produce a genetically coded platform for optimizing metabolic processes. In the design using recombinant enzymes within the carboxyssim as a separate space, the compartment increases the probability of encounter between the substrate and the enzyme, which maximizes the generation of the product. The bacteria that have synthetic organelle to maximize the production of anything required.

Times registered in 2014: UMayor.

BIOTECHNOLOGY INDUSTRY AND FUNDS

AsemBio Biotech Chile (Chilean Association of Biotechnology): In 2009, there were about 200 companies involved in biotechnology (biotech companies and research centers) in Chile. The rate of growth of the biotechnology industry in Chile has grown in recent years and a sustained growth rate of 30% per year is expected. Over the past four years, the industry received more than $ 93 million, plus a foreign investment of more than $ 170 million. A study by CORFO (which is no longer available on their website), the Chilean biotechnology companies are distributed mainly in the agricultural sector (41%) and Health Diagnosis-human (27%), the remaining 32% is distributed in companies engaged in aquaculture, food, industrial biotechnology and bioprocessing. An interesting area of development of biotechnology in Chile has been the biomining where bacteria are used to dissolve metals such as copper from low-grade deposits, amicably and cost to the environment. I heard that 9% of the copper produced in Chile comes from biomining. This highlights the efforts by BHP Billiton-BioSigma and companies, which together invested more than $ 20 million in this area in Chile.

In addition to these investments, there is research in Chile that shows funding of 60 million Chilean pesos in biotechnology projects by another program called:Program enhancement of university-VIU linking university research with business needs. Chile has other programs of common purpose as those presented above CONICYT (National Commission for Scientific and Technological Research) and INNOVA Chile Association, which created a covenant to act in the promotion, development, management and financing of strategic projects in biotechnology.

REGULATIONS FOR SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY

Chile has specific legislation regarding biosafety rules to regulate the use of genetic engineering as a tool in the context of different biotechnological CTNBio of Brazil. Once the country is only allowed to cultivation of transgenic export , there was a need to regulate an unstable field of transgenic and GMOs. The legislation signed by Chile is the Cartagena Protocol that was part of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD) 1992, which contained three related to GMOs devices, one of them was the Cartagena Protocol. This was ensured that any use of genetic engineering of organisms for purposes of modification, will have to consider the prevention of biotech or biotech security risks, depending on the goal and also address the labeling of modified products, the declaration of areas free of GMOs, the act of creating environmental impact studies etc.

This protocol is only modified organisms and is not specific about the biosafety.The situation ends up being the subject of debates today,because ecologists and environmentalists claim and propagate situations in the country with unconstitutional acts , not the putting into practice. As an example, there are some initiatives by Chilean organizations creating events like "I DO NOT want GMOs in Chile." The campaign involves the use of seeds that cannot be marketed by traditional farmers, but by foreign companies, in addition, the campaign seeks to block the adoption of a Law on Biosafety, as to claim that the same will be approved the production and marketing of transgenics in Chile.

RESEARCH, PEOPLE AND ORGANIZATION

In Chile, Universidad Mayor, through its business incubator Gesta Mayor, invested over 40 million pesos to promote synthetic biology, especially in the iGEM competition. The Chilean team that participates in the iGEM promotes ways to motivate research and introduce synthetic biology in its region and has organized workshops open to all kinds of public and in parallel to this activity the course of synthetic biology recruited new members to the team in 2012. New lines of research in synthetic biology.

EVENTS RELATED TO SYNTHETIC BIOLOGY

Come al Lab: 11 companies summoned to discuss synthetic biology. Participants visited the Laboratory of Biological Sciences, Catholic University, where they were able to experience and learn about the impacts and applications that have synthetic biology in areas such as biofuels, pharmaceuticals, mining and biomedicine. Activity since 2011, organized by the Centre for Innovation and Entrepreneurship (Sofofa Innova) in order to build bridges between companies and universities.

-Project IGEM UC: At school Trinity College of Rancagua held a scientific exhibition organized by teachers and students in order to expose different work during the semester. At this exhibition, the team's 2013 iGEM synthetic biology UC_Chile exposed the students to the College. Where the main topics were those most known applications followed by some educational activities. Students of different school years exhibited several educational presentations such as "The Digestive System", "Personal Hygiene" and "trophic cascades". In addition to performing experimental demonstrations explaining how the different effects of light on plants, the density difference between oil and water, followed by several exciting chemical reaction and even a non-Newtonian fluid source.

-AMCHAM (North American Chilean Chamber of Commerce): Workshop on Biotechnology in business, where he also discussed effects of the medicine and the new science: synthetic biology, which explored new about the functioning of biological systems, new organisms that are important biotechnological point of view. These organisms can produce new components for the pharmaceutical industry, energy production and biofuels.

-FabLab The Faculty of Physical and Mathematical Sciences, University of Chile (FCFM): 1st Talk about synthetic biology and biological machines, which is synthetic biology, and the FabLab project OpenBio U. Chile.

-Program De Apoyo al Surrounding PAE-IGEM Chile: training with emphasis on synthetic biology competition iGEM. This course includes a theoretical part and a practical part where fundamentals of bioengineering and genetics are taught to then undertake a project of bacteria "disarming" and "going back" according to the properties that microorganisms present. The goal of this activity is to promote the entrepreneurial culture in the development of synthetic biology, where the participation of school and graduation is also encouraged. Students are supported in the development of synthetic biology, laboratory techniques and promotion of entrepreneurial skills in order to enable students to develop innovative research results. The ultimate goal is to get businesses to support the best team.

In addition, the team invests in UC_iGEM they call synthetic sociology, where they try to make a "constitutive expression of Synbio" in Chile. They consider it early, exponential and adulthood. Planning to do this with society something analogous with the project developed, putting their outputs (people being informed and entering the synthetic biology) downstream to its endogenous machinery (schools, colleges etc). In the early stage the program called PENTA UC (Talents Development and Study Program at Catholic University) aims to educate creatively and proactively strengthen children and passion) develop children’s passion for knowledge. Simultaneously the PENTA program helps in personal development and across multiple disciplines and practical workshops that lead to potential growth of the student. One of the courses, called "What if Dr. Frankenstein were alive today?" Is designed to introduce children of 13 years practice and the theory of the foundations of genetic engineering. While that teaches how to deal with ethical issues to understand how you can work with genes and use them for the benefit of the human race. The exponenciasl phase comes to dialogue with other college courses on biotechnology and synthetic biology and how to see all courses involved in this way promote roundtables to discuss synthetic biology causing people to be interested not only in their field of specialization.