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Team:Imperial/Policy and Practices
From 2014.igem.org
Policy and Practices
Introduction
Synthetic biology does not exist in a vacuum. As with all science it forms a complex network within society that links together a diverse range of elements.
During the summer we sought to explore some of these elements and how they interfaced with our project as well as with synthetic biology as a whole.
Informing Design
The engineering of biology is a multi-faceted challenge. The functions created must interact usefully with the rest of society. To ensure that our solution achieved this we discussed our approach with experts from relevant fields including civil engineering, sustainable development and water treatment.
Water Report
Water is a resource that binds together every human on the planet. The driving force behind our project was to effect a change in the use and misuse of water. In order to better understand the problem we compiled a short report about the global water situation and some specific cases.
The i in iGEM
Water is a global issue. While compiling our water report we came across literature from a range of institutions worldwide. Some critical papers had only their abstracts written in English, which hindered our research. This, along with the fact that our team consists of people from 7 different countries inspired us to look into the different languages in iGEM and the effect on the competition.
Educational Outreach
Research should not only be accessible to experts. In order to foster the engagement of the broader community with our project and synthetic biology we took part in several outreach programmes and events.
Art and Design
Our investigation into methods of post-processing our bacterial cellulose produced a range of material properties and textures. We collaborated with artists to explore the possible applications of our biomaterial in fashion.
