Team:Calgary Ethics/Collaboration

From 2008.igem.org

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!align="center"|[[Team:Calgary_Ethics|Home]]
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!align="center"|[[Team:Calgary_Ethics/Team|The Team]]
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!align="center"|[[Team:Calgary_Ethics/Project|The Project]]
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!align="center"|[[Team:Calgary_Ethics/Surveys|Surveys]]
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!align="center"|[[Team:Calgary_Ethics/Collaboration|Collaboration]]
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!align="center"|[[Team:Calgary_Ethics/Notebook|Notebook]]
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== ''' Collaboration with the Guelph iGEM team 2008''' ==
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    <td>[[Image:Ethics-logo.jpg]]</td><!--This is where the team image goes -->
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'''Part I
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== [[Introduction]] ==
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'''
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Micronutrient deficiency is a major cause of life threatening diseases and mortality through-out the world (1; 2). The UN World Summit on Children Micronutrient goal was:"Achieve sustainable elimination of iodine deficiency disorders by 2005 and vitamin A deficiency by 2010 (3). In poor, developing countries, micronutrient deficiency has been the major cause of impaired mental and physical functioning, mainly among children (1; 2).  The four major micronutrients of concern in the developing world are iron, vitamin A, zinc and iodine(2).  Our focus will be on Vitamin A deficiency. Roughly 400 million people worldwide are at risk of vitamin A deficiency. Of those 400 million affected, 100-200 million are children (1; 4). It can lead to progressive damage to the eye and eventually causes blindness. The WHO reports that 2/3 of deficient children die within two months of becoming blind(4). 
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Vitamin A deficiency is most prevalent among children located in Southeast Asia and Africa(5; 6), where  staple foods are low in vitamin A (i.e. wheat, rice, maize…etc) and the poor cannot afford foods that would fulfill their Vitamin A requirements .  Mammals must ingest provitamin-A Carotenoids from dark green vegetables, or yellow or orange fruits(7) and vegetables or fat soluble Vitamin A from animal products like eggs, butter and fish liver oils in order to synthesize Vitamin A in the body. Vitamin A is essential for protein metabolism, maintenance of epithelial cells, proper functioning of the immune system and retina, and for growth and reproduction (8). In order to reduce Vitamin A deficiency in developing countries, Beta-Carotene, the pro-vitamin A precursor, or Retinol, the animal version of Vitamin A, must be provided by some means to those who are deficient. There are currently 3 delivery systems for combating micronutrient deficiency; supplementation, increasing or diversifying dietary in-take and food fortification, which includes commercial or industrial fortification, as well as biofortification, microbial biofortification and home fortification(1; 9; 10). There is also a fourth and more recent delivery system, which can be labeled the synthetic biology approach (the approach the Guelph iGEM team takes). This paper will explore and highlight the major E3LS implications of the current and possible future delivery systems, for Beta-Carotene, a Provitamin A carotenoid. The goal of addressing the E3LS implications is to help advance towards realistic applications. These implications must be considered and weighed in an effort to make the best choices for fighting deficiencies all over the world.
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'''Part II
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== [[Overview of the different approaches ]] ==
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'''Food fortification''' (11) is a food based strategy and includes commerical and industrial fortification, home fortification, biofortification and if implemented crops or animals; microbial biofortification and synthetic biology. In this context, fortification in general means to improve or strengthen the levels of nutrients in a target product.  The several types of food fortification are distinct because different techniques and procedures are used to fortify the target foods.
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'''Biofortification''' involves creating micronutrient-dense staple crops using traditional breeding techniques(7) and/or biotechnology. Cross breeding has been around for decades and has been used to fortify numerous crops. Using biotechnology to biofortify staple crops is more modern. The most popular example of this approach is the transgenic 'Golden Rice'(12; 13), which has been fortified with Beta-Carotene with the purpose to try to improve Vitamin A levels in people with deficiencies.
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'''Microbial Biofortification''' involves using probiotic bacteria, which ferment to produce Beta-carotene, in the foods we eat or directly in the human intestine. The probiotic bacteria that are often selected for addition to food are lactic acid bacteria (LAB) because they are presumed to have beneficial effects on the host(14). An example of this would be mixing lactic acid bacteria (LAB) with animal feed so that animal meats and bi-products such as milk are enriched in Vitamin A.
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            <td>[https://2008.igem.org/Team:Calgary_Ethics Home]</td>
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            <td>[https://2008.igem.org/Team:Calgary_Ethics/Team Team]</td>
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            <td>[https://2008.igem.org/Team:Calgary_Ethics/Adult_Surveys Adult Survey]</td>
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            <td>[https://2008.igem.org/Team:Calgary_Ethics/High_School_Surveys High School Survey]</td>
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            <td>[https://2008.igem.org/Team:Calgary_Ethics/Collaboration Collaboration]</td>
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            <td>[https://2008.igem.org/Team:Calgary_Ethics/Notebook Notebook]</td>
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<h2>Meet the Team!</h2>
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    <h2>The Undergraduates</h2>
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[[Image:Sibat.jpg | left]]
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<h2>Sibat Khwaja</h2>
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<p>I am a third year biomedical science student at the faculty of medicine in University of Calgary.My background is in biology, genetics, bio and organic chemistry with a focus in Biomedical Research. As a biomedical science student I have been always interested in engineering organisms, redesigning biological systems with standardized part and all that fun stuff. However, after being exposed to a course in ethical issues in medical research and practice, I have learned about the vital role ethics plays from the very first initiation of the planning/designing of these systems and was inspired to join the team. Besides academics I will be best described as the center of all the love of my family and a big fan of my guitar. Contact Information: smkhwaja@ucalgary.ca</p><br><br><br><br>
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[[Image:Photo_390000.jpg | left]]
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<h2>Niklas Bobrovitz</h2>
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<p>My name is Niklas and I'm entering my 2nd year as a Health and Society major in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program at the University of Calgary. I have a passion for biology and an uninhibited interest in the operation and evolution of society.I joined the iGEM team for 2008 because I believe synthetic biology will drive many major social changes in the future, both locally and globally. The advancements that synthetic biology may offer, especially in medicine and environmental saftey, have many ethical, social, legal and economic implications. I want to examine these issues and gain a better understanding of them as they must be considered before any innovation from the field of synthetic biology can be implemented in society. Contact Information: njhbobro@ucalgary.ca</p>
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[[Image:Dan.jpg | left]]
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<h2>Daniela Navia</h2>
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<p>My name is Daniela Navia and I am entering my second year at the University of Calgary as a Health and Society major. I am interested in gaining a wider perspective of global issues and how different fields can work together to come up with new, creative solutions. I joined iGem because I was intrigued by the potential impact synthetic biology could have on a global scale, and especially how it could be geared to help lower income countries. I am also concerned about the ethical ramifications of using these technologies. I would like to explore legal, ethical and social arguments for and against aspects of synthetic biology and gain further insights into how different groups perceive this advancing field. Contact Information: dnavia@ucalgary.ca</p>
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[[Image:111.jpg | left]]
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<h2>Our Supervisor: Dr. Gregor Wolbring</h2>
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<p>He is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine University of Calgary. He is a bioethicist, a biochemist, and a health research, ability governance, and science and technology governance scholar.</p>
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'''Commercial and Industrial fortification  ''' This approach involves fortifying commercially available products such as flour, cooking oils and butter with Beta-carotene or Retinol. This fortification process occurs during manufacturing.
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'''Home Fortification''' This approach consists of supplying deficient populations with home mixed vitamins and minerals in packages or tablets that can be added when cooking meals. This approach is basically a merger of supplements and fortification.
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'''Supplementation''' This has been the most widely used approach so far in fighting Vitamin A deficiency. There have been many successful campaigns using supplementation. Vitamin A supplements come in the form of tablets, syrup and capsules and can be provided in biannual large doses (micronutriets: dietary intake V supplement use). In most campaigns, the supplements have been handed out during national immunization days, like those dedicated to polio. However, National Micronutrient Days (NMDs), like those started in Africa in 1999, are becoming a more popular way to ensure supplements are received biannually(15).
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'''Increasing and diversifying dietary intake ''' This approach involves creating larger and more diverse diets for the target population. This may require the population to increase their production of food which may be paired with educational campaigns to provide the information about which foods promote higher levels of vitamin A in the body. Another possibility is increasing the distribution of food to the region from another area. 
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'''Synthetic Biology Approach'''
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Although techniques of synthetic biology are used in aspects of biofortification and microbial fortification, it is also an individual approach. This approach involves engineering a synthetic operon of beta-carotene metabolic genes in a plasmid, which may then be transferred to a diverse set of bacterial hosts. The biofortified probiotic hosts may be implemented in many ways to produce Beta-Carotene for humans. The probiotics may be place directly in the human intestine or they may be associated with our foods. One possibility may be mixing the probiotics with animal feed so that animal meats and animal bi-products are enriched with  vitamin A. (Guelph iGEM team)
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'''Part III
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== [[The E3LS Implications of the Various Approaches (Pro V Con)  ]] ==
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!  !! Pros !! Cons
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! Economic argument Biofortification
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|  once introduced, biofortified crop systems are highly sustainable and require minimal intervention (16)  ||
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! Environmental argument
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|Trace minerals can help plants resist disease and withstand other environmental stressors (16) 
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|Currently there is a lack of adequate knowledge on the impact that GM crops have on local ecosystems (16) 
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Monocultures reduce biodiversity
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! Ethics argument
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| || Many people believe genetically modifying crops is wrong because nature shouldn't be altered
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! Legal argument
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|Who is responsible for regulation and quality control?
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! Social argument
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| || farmers and consumers may not accept sensory changes of biofortified crops (16)
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! Other
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|biofortification is a well suited approach for developing countries since it utilizes the fact that the daily diet of low income micronutrient deficient populations, is large quantities of staple foods(16)
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! !! Pros !! Cons
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Microbial biofortificaitoan
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|  Additional benefits offered by LAB may lower subsequent health care service costs || Costs for delivering live bacteria and overseeing administering could be high
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! Environmental argument
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! Legal argument
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-no regulatory definitions for functional foods or prebiotics (17)
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- health claims can be difficult to obtain for probiotic products (14)
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!Social argument
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| if Lactic acid bacteria used, there may be beneficial effects in addition to reducing VAD deficiency (14)|| People may feel uncomfortable ingesting live bacteria
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| Lactic acid bacteria are generally recognized as safe ((18) -LAB have beneficial effects on the host in addition to reducing deficiency (14)|| difficult to demonstrate the efficiacy of prebiotics in humans (17)
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| Can be distributed as widely and cheaply as spices or condoms    || Not a sustained approach as the supply of additives must be replenished by a producer outside the target population
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2) Collaboration with the Calgary Wetlab iGEM team 2008
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We provide also E3LS feedback to the wetlab team from Calgary.
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3) Collaboration with a presenter at Synbio 4.0 where we provide feedback on synbio regulation ideas.
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Revision as of 22:11, 26 October 2008

Ethics-logo.jpg
Ethics-logo.jpg
Home
Team
Adult Survey
High School Survey
Collaboration
Notebook

Contents

Meet the Team!

The Undergraduates

Sibat.jpg

Sibat Khwaja

I am a third year biomedical science student at the faculty of medicine in University of Calgary.My background is in biology, genetics, bio and organic chemistry with a focus in Biomedical Research. As a biomedical science student I have been always interested in engineering organisms, redesigning biological systems with standardized part and all that fun stuff. However, after being exposed to a course in ethical issues in medical research and practice, I have learned about the vital role ethics plays from the very first initiation of the planning/designing of these systems and was inspired to join the team. Besides academics I will be best described as the center of all the love of my family and a big fan of my guitar. Contact Information: smkhwaja@ucalgary.ca





Photo 390000.jpg

Niklas Bobrovitz

My name is Niklas and I'm entering my 2nd year as a Health and Society major in the Bachelor of Health Sciences program at the University of Calgary. I have a passion for biology and an uninhibited interest in the operation and evolution of society.I joined the iGEM team for 2008 because I believe synthetic biology will drive many major social changes in the future, both locally and globally. The advancements that synthetic biology may offer, especially in medicine and environmental saftey, have many ethical, social, legal and economic implications. I want to examine these issues and gain a better understanding of them as they must be considered before any innovation from the field of synthetic biology can be implemented in society. Contact Information: njhbobro@ucalgary.ca





Dan.jpg

Daniela Navia

My name is Daniela Navia and I am entering my second year at the University of Calgary as a Health and Society major. I am interested in gaining a wider perspective of global issues and how different fields can work together to come up with new, creative solutions. I joined iGem because I was intrigued by the potential impact synthetic biology could have on a global scale, and especially how it could be geared to help lower income countries. I am also concerned about the ethical ramifications of using these technologies. I would like to explore legal, ethical and social arguments for and against aspects of synthetic biology and gain further insights into how different groups perceive this advancing field. Contact Information: dnavia@ucalgary.ca





111.jpg

Our Supervisor: Dr. Gregor Wolbring

He is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Medicine University of Calgary. He is a bioethicist, a biochemist, and a health research, ability governance, and science and technology governance scholar.
Retrieved from "http://2008.igem.org/Team:Calgary_Ethics/Collaboration"