Revision as of 23:01, 12 October 2017

User Group Interviews

Novices

Hobbyists

Hans Wilms, Biotechnology Consultant

We conducted an interview with Hans Wilms, a PhD student who is working as a synthetic biology consultant with The ODIN. The ODIN is a biotechnology company that makes do-it-yourself kits for anyone interested in genetic engineering. Discussing making our system open-source, Hans said that we are creating a powerful tool that allows members of the scientific community to modulate our parts collection that we are providing to the registry. He also agreed that using a cell-free system would help to reduce concerns that people have when working with microorganisms like E. coli. He did not foresee anything hazardous using our system since it is non-proliferating and would not be able to survive in an environment since it lacks a cell wall. He suggested that when we are writing protocols for people who are serious about getting into the DIY biology community, we should regulate our terminology appropriately by using words such as ribosomes and DNA, but not going too in depth by discussing topics such as promoters. We also discussed how to promote genetic engineering in a positive way and he said that it is about creating an open community and showing other people what projects you are working on. In terms of how to produce cell-free system kits, Hans said that there would not be any restrictions on what they could produce as long as they are safe and easy to use. He suggested that it would be preferable that the company would not have to construct the kit contents in-house since this would allow for faster shipping to consumers.

Experts

Dr. Ute Wieden-Kothe, Biochemistry Professor

We interviewed Dr. Ute Wieden-Kothe, a biochemistry professor in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of Lethbridge whose research focuses on RNA and protein research, specifically RNA modifications. We asked her questions related to the types of systems she uses in her lab. She said that her lab utilizes in vitro transcription assays to synthesize RNA, which they make in-house. For protein work, she said that her lab is normally able to purify protein products directly from the cell, they have had issues in the past using this method. She said that cell-free systems have the fundamental advantage of allowing precise control in the biochemistry work she researches. She did say that cell-free does have limitations as you may miss interactions that occur in vivo, but this could further research conducted on having more complex cell-free systems. She suggested that having the machinery required to do transcription with E. coli and Yeast systems would help with her research. She also said that modularity is key to break the cellular process into different pieces so researchers can choose the elements that are most imperative for their work. She also said this could help with potential troubleshooting of our system as a whole and suggested we think of a set of positive controls that could be included. These controls would aid in determining if there is an issue with the transcription or translation machinery provided. With making our system open-source, she advised that we would need to communicate effectively on how people can access our parts. We also asked her how to communicate the complexity of our project to people without background knowledge and told us we should write down our key message to avoid including scientific words that people may not know the meaning of.

Biosecurity Interviews