Team:Edinburgh/Practices

Human Practices

The field of synthetic biology is relatively new and its potential to shape biotechnology of the future is widely recognised. But what is the best approach to take with new scientific fields? With synthetic biology despite its great potential, there are many risks. Edinburgh’s iGEM project is no different. How will it impact our environment, the future of how we source our food, society in general and is it the best approach to be taken in the first place? With that in mind, we have chosen to conduct a feasibility study. If our project is to have both credibility and longevity it is important that we, as future synthetic biologists, ask these questions. The answers may be challenging but are necessary to deepen our understanding and improve this field.

This year's project has involved interactions with two very different communities: society at large, and the iGEM community.

Biorefineries in Society

In investigating the feasibility of improved biorefineries, we believe that it is not enough to simply show that the biology can work. The project must also be economically viable, and a practical design for a biorefinery must be created. For this, see the biorefinery page.

Secondly, the broader social implications of the project must be considered. We have made contact with and interviewed a number of different experts from various fields: environmentalism, business, academia, politics, and the Church. We hope to open a discourse related to the field of Synthetic Biology in Scotland. For this, see the interviews page.

Edinburgh and the iGEM Community

We have naturally interacted with other members of the synthetic biology community. Early on, we created our Wiki Watch page, which we hope has been of assistance to other teams looking to collaborate on similar projects. Later, we collaborated with another team debugging and assaying a BioBrick. We also helped update the Registry with information on previous years' parts. See the Collaboration page.