Interview Transcript

[00:00:23] Thank you so much for joining me. My name is Katariina Janes and I am the co-president of iGEM Toronto. Please introduce yourself, tell us your name and a brief description of what you do. 

[00:00:35] Hello it's nice to be here. My name is Petri Latvhee. I'm a group leader and the senior scientist at the University of Tartu and I'm leading a group of synthetic biology here. We started just a half years ago and our main research is focused on grading. New applications for biotechnology. 

[00:01:00] Could you just give us a quick description of synthetic biology is for people who are not familiar with it. 

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[00:01:14] Well maybe the simplest way to describe synthetic biology would be that it's a field where we are combining engineering part with gene technology and biology. So what we are doing we are taking an engineering approach to redesign living systems. So in our case we are focused on microbes. But also the applications are going much wider especially do health care. 

[00:01:39] And these are actually also very interesting questions because nowadays we are learning how to change real living cells. And this of course raises several ethical questions as well. And this is also a question for public debate actually. So I noticed that the centre for responsive support from. Why do you think synthetic biology is attracts various government agencies? 

[00:02:20] I think it's a it's a very new field and it has so many future applications a lot of them probably we cannot even think about that moment. But it's really something that we can. With that can change the field. So. I think this this amplitude of different opportunities is actually something that makes it so attractive and it's not focused only in one field like not only in biotechnology in energy generation but it's. A false. 

[00:03:00] Economy It involves health care basically all different fields will be touched by this. These new applications. How do you think there is going to shake up the world?

[00:03:28] Several ways. So basically there are few let's say crises that we are going door to or we have the climate change happening we have there are several diseases that we want to get rid of and synthetic biology actually offers real solutions for these problems. 

[00:03:57] How did you first come into contact with synthetic biology and how did this  captivate your attention?

[00:04:04] Yeah. I started at the university I started studying biotechnology and I really enjoy and enjoy this field. And what is biotechnology biotechnology is that we are. In a sense we are applying known microorganisms for the benefit of humans. So the simplest examples are East for example. Which is producing wine and beer. But later on when the technology is developed we realize that we can actually modify. These microorganism and produce more complex compounds without with them. And was like a gradual movement from the biotechnology to synthetic biology to systems biology. And this is how it started. 

[00:05:02] What do you think are some of that you or other people face with really connecting the principles of synthetic biology and research with applications that are tangible more like challenges that we face?

[00:05:20] Yeah. To the idea of trying to finally get to the application stage. 

[00:05:28] So yeah we are more focused in our studies we are more focused on industrial biotechnology applications of synthetic biology. So we are really want to reduce chemicals from sustainable. Energy sources like biomass for example. 

[00:05:50] And there are a lot of applications so what is our goal is to move away from traditional use of fossil fuels and replace it with more sustainable solutions. So this could be Wozzeck biomass for example it could be algae that is growing in seas. It could be different sources. Of course. This is not the only way to replace fossil fuels but it's definitely one component. So to really overcome the utilization of fossil fuels is to combine different renewable strategies where solar wind and thermal energy are playing a major role. But there are applications where. The for example solar and wind can not be used. And in these fields. Our. Biological or biotechnological approach can step in and build this sector in braces. Maybe 

[00:07:06] one of the major issues regarding the public's perception of biology. Specifically we're talking about moving more towards the yes. So. I think. That it is a sensitive subject and we really should be able to communicate with people what we are doing here because in 80s when first. 

[00:07:31] Genetically Modified Organisms were or anything modified plants were produced. People got scared. 

[00:07:40] That what the science scientists are doing are they really modifying the life and what could be all the consequences. Now to be honest we have even step one step further and we have moved from simple metabolic engineering to synthetic biology which means that we can really take different parts from from the organisms which are around and then. Intentionally improve some of the processes. And of course it can sound scary but. We have to see all the benefits behind that as well because it's a technology like some previous inventions we can take for example automobiles. It's also that cars are our current traffic is killing some people and it causes some damage as well. But. There are some many more beneficial traits there that we are not discussing whether you forbid cars from the street. I think it's the similar way with synthetic biology. So there are dangers and people who don't have good intentions can misuse it. But we have to realize what are the benefits. How it actually can help the human guy and take all the precaution that it's not going to be used in. 

[00:09:17] Not so nice way which could be harmful do you think that right now we're doing a good job of communicating the benefits and the harms of synthetic biology. And maybe if not maybe can we speculate as to ways in which we can sort of improve that. Yes I think probably we should. Have. 

[00:09:43] Even more extensive discussion with with public interest in this matter. We are participating several popular scientific events and trying to communicate. 

[00:09:56] But probably it will. So far it has not been reaching to. Do larger communities although I guess lot of people already know what is crisper and that these kinds of terms are penetrating out from the scientific community as well. And I think within the next five years we really see major differences taking place in in the public health sector for example. 

[00:10:26] Also in biotechnology. We should try to communicate more. All of those benefits that are included with us. 

[00:10:34] So there's been a drive to accelerate R&D to get products to market faster and start my site. However there are some concerns about the reproducibility of ecosystems and biotech. So what kind of steps are being taken that seen by our industry delivers products. 

[00:11:01] Yes of course there are there are several steps. So first of all if something can be really dangerous and in synthetic biology we can also. Create so-called self-killing systems. So in case of these engineered organisms will be in the nature they will kill themself the cells immediately. So these kind of systems have been developed already and they are used. 

[00:11:33] If you're talking about industrial applications there are ways to control it. And. I don't think that. There are big risks. Definitely not bigger than we are taking the chemical industry. These organisms would get out from the from the industry and start living their own lives. What we might be more concerned about is. When we are changing and start modifying for example humans and this is also very. In some way where. The science is moving at the moment because we want to get rid of. Any genetic diseases for example. And this is something permanent because if you will modify a human genome in a way that we get up to get rid of this disease it means that this disease will not be carried on there they are children. So basically we erase this disease from our genome completely. This is really changing life already. 

[00:12:44] Requires that complex genes circuits serve multiple components. Do you believe that patenting will slow down innovation. Each fiber enters a different pattern. 

[00:12:56] Yeah. So again it's it's complicated to answer this question because I think if the invention is really for the benefit of the human kind then it should not or this patent should be freely available for the people in need. 

[00:13:21] Because why we are doing this after all is not get rich but it's to help our society to move further. 

[00:13:30] So of course we need companies also to define us to this science and the companies are also the driving force behind it. But it has to be somehow regulated that inventions will. Reach out to the public and to the people who actually need it. 

[00:13:57] So some not be patented. 

[00:14:03] Well yes I do think that. Exactly. If you really want to focus on helping. Others curing deadly diseases then I don't think that this has to be a large business model. If the. Applications are more like add on products that will make our life nicer easier. Then why not. But if it's really essential for us then I guess we should not turn it into a business that is just so and just kind of trying to determine how do we define what is essential. 

[00:14:52] Because you know everyone can say that's true. 

[00:14:55] That's again this is a debatable question and I don't think that there are any right and wrong answers to this. 

[00:15:02] Exactly. Saving one human life this is already. But I guess these these are questions which are out for and debate among. 

[00:15:17] Different mental institutions and also to the public. So these are actually because now we're entering into this phase where there will be more and more these kind of inventions coming out. And exactly we have to discuss. How do you proceed with this. With the current situation especially sort of. Perhaps creating some sort of guidelines or some sort of framework for assessing new new emerging ideas is it something that I think. 

[00:15:52] It's very important and also I find as like as an IBM team it's something they can already consider before. When you're when you're designing your project you're executed. This is really maybe even going up to the people who devised the policy and asking them how this kind of technology will be assessed on its final application. So one of our main focus is about how synthetic biology intersects with many different disciplines. Can you maybe give us an example of what kind of people you've worked with in your experience. So I'm. 

[00:16:34] While developing some industrial biotechnology processes we actually have to communicate really from people from very different sectors so if our main work is carried out in a synthetic biology lab then at the same time we are working together with buying from additions. We are working together with chemists at same time. 

[00:17:07] We have to understand that these processes that we are designing are economically profitable. So from there the economic factor comes in. Everything has to be ethical. So we are trying to involve. People from ethics department to also to analyze our work. So it's really a mixture of different subject areas. 

[00:17:41] And just sort of for people who don't have heard those terms and understand the distinction could you clarify what the difference is between biotechnology and synthetic biology. So the difference between synthetic biology. 

[00:17:57] And biotechnology is that if in biotechnology we are taking natural microorganisms we are producing some chemicals. So the easiest example would be ethanol production and with ease. Then in case of synthetic biology we want to make those microorganisms produce something that they would not produce naturally. So we engineer their DNA in a way that they would start producing chemicals that we need in our everyday life but they would have not done it naturally. 

[00:18:44] We see synthetic biology 20 years from now. 

[00:18:48] That's right. That's a difficult question it's it's difficult to speculate what will happen in five years or so because quite often we are. Overselling some parts and from the other hand. Actually there are events taking place that we would have never thought about it. So I believe that there is a future for synthetic biology. 

[00:19:15] Both in the sector of biotechnology and energy generation. But the even bigger differences will be made in public healthcare and in medicine. And this we will see huge changes taking place probably already within the next five years. And so just to finish what inspires you. 

[00:19:46] Going away. 

[00:19:48] I think it's a curiosity. I think that we are living in a very interesting age at the moment. Our technology has developed pretty far and it's really interesting at the moment to see. 

[00:20:06] Where we are heading because there are so many opportunities. There are so many challenges in the world. And I hope that I hope that we will be living in a better world than in 10 20 years.