Difference between revisions of "Human Practices"
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Revision as of 19:20, 31 May 2017
Human Practices
"Human Practices is the study of how your work affects the world, and how the world affects your work."
— Peter Carr, Director of Judging
Through their Human Practices efforts, iGEM teams creatively engage with important issues "beyond the bench", relating (but not limited) to ethics, sustainability, social justice, safety, security, environmental impact and intellectual property rights. Such issues demand thoughtful public engagement and dialogue; educating while inviting public input to shape the direction of research.
iGEM teams approach these challenges in a wide diversity of ways. Teams' efforts often integrate into the technical aspects of their project, and have an influence upon their design decisions. For example, teams have engaged with potential users and stakeholders to better understand their needs, ranging from safety to access, to inform their technical design criteria.
Teams have also engaged with diverse communities to help shape the practice of synthetic biology across local and global scales. For example, teams have consulted and shared their experiences with constituents and policymakers in their own cities and countries, as well as international forums including United Nations treaty deliberations.
There have been many examples of Human Practices work that builds creative engagement with diverse communities and the environment. Teams have conducted environmental impact analyses, created museum exhibits, written intellectual property guides and children's books, facilitated "white hat" biosecurity investigations, held forums with legislators, and even performed street theatre. You can find many more inspiring examples below and in the teams' wiki pages.
Questions? Email us: executivehp AT igem DOT org
How You Will Be Evaluated
Like other parts of iGEM, the goal is to convince and impress your peers and the judges!
Prizes
Teams can also compete for two separate Human Practices prizes: Best Integrated Human Practices and Best Education and Public Engagement. These prizes are meant to recognize exceptional work in the two gold medal qualifying options above, respectively.
Teams are evaluated using four criteria, three shared between both prizes and one unique to each prize.
| Best Integrated Human Practices | Best Education and Public Engagement |
|---|---|
| Was the work integrated into the project? | Did the work establish a dialogue? |
| Does the work serve as an inspiring example to others? | |
| Is the work documented in a way that others can build upon? | |
| Was the work thoughtfully implemented? (did the team explain the context, rationale, prior work) | |
Medals
HP is a mandatory element of projects for teams wishing to obtain a Silver or Gold medal, but all teams are expected to attempt some HP work. Be sure to go over the official medal criteria.
To qualify for a silver medal, teams must demonstrate how they have identified, investigated and addressed one or more Human Practices issues in the context of their project.
To qualify for a gold medal, teams must complete two of three requirements, one of which is additional Human practices work. To qualify for gold, teams must expand on silver medal activities by demonstrating how the investigation of Human Practices issues has been integrated into the design and/or execution of their project.
Tips for Teams
Think about HP at the beginning of your project. The most impressive projects are often inspired by their HP efforts.
- Go beyond promoting synthetic biology. The most impressive teams engage seriously with values and perspectives beyond the synthetic biology community.
- Do your research. If you're applying a method that has been used before (such as conducting a survey) find out the best practices and try to recruit an expert to help you.
- Communicate clearly what you have done and why. Simple, concise and organized reporting helps the judges and teams better understand and appreciate your efforts.
- Be an example for others. Consider what you can do to help other teams reuse and adapt your work.
- Be creative! We love seeing innovative new approaches.
Exemplary Projects
You can find many examples of excellent work by teams from the last 4 years on iGEM's main Human Practices Page.
Paris Bettencourt 2016
Frank&Stain: Enzymetic alternatives to perchloroethylene for stain removal from fabrics
Dry cleaning is the removal of stains from delicate fabrics using solvents other than water. The most widely used solvent in dry cleaning is perchloroethylene (PERC), a volatile carcinogen that is increasingly banned and restricted for environmental and safety reasons. Our team is using synthetic biology to replace PERC with a biological alternative. To do so we are screening samples from all around the world to look for stain-digesting microbes, we are characterising candidate enzymes with putative stain digesting activity, and we are searching for fabric binding domains to enhance their stain fighting power! With some microbiology, synthetic biology, metabolic engineering and a lot of creativity we will find a green technology to make dry cleaners forget all about PERC.
UofC Calgary 2016
The Subtilis Defence
One of the greatest barriers to long term space travel is the exposure to high energy ionizing radiation (IR). Exposure to IR can induce double stranded breaks which are very cytotoxic, resulting in cell death. Current solutions, while effective in low earth orbit, are less so outside of the magnetosphere. The 2016 U of C Calgary team address this problem through synthetic biology and the engineering of Bacillus subtilis. A strain of B. subtilis has been engineered to express a recombinant peptide, Bowman-Birk Protease inhibitor (BBI), which has radio-protective effects. The bacteria are contained within a patch, allowing for continuous secretion of the peptide into the body. While the initial system is designed to produce BBI, restriction sites within the gene constructs allow for any gene to be inserted, creating a versatile expression platform. This can be customized for the secretion of bio-therapeutics for future space missions.
How did Human Practices Come To Be?
Understanding synthetic biology as a human practice, not just a product of science, is at the heart of iGEM. Human Practices (HP) has been formally integrated into iGEM since 2008, when it was introduced as a gold medal criteria and special prize. In 2013 a silver medal element of Human Practices was introduced to further recognize the importance of these efforts across all teams . In 2015, the Human Practices prize was separated into two distinct but related prizes: Best Integrated Human Practices and Best Education and Public Engagement. These prizes celebrate how Human Practices shapes the coupled social and technical elements of synthetic biology.
The term Human Practices was first introduced by investigators of the Synthetic Biology Engineering Research Center (Synberc), however iGEM has become the global hub for examining and evolving the concept and its practice. Since then, complementary efforts such as 'responsible research and innovation' have also contributed significantly to the theory and practice of Human Practices at iGEM.
Need help?
Many members of the iGEM community have a diversity of expertise related to Human Practices. The Human Practices Advisory Committee members have agreed to be contacted by teams seeking guidance on specific elements of their Human Practices work. Please email the executive committee at executivehp [AT] igem [DOT] org to receive contact details.
Want to join the advisory group? Please email the executive HP committee with the subject line: "iGEM Human Practices advisory committee application"
Please include a short description of yourself, your experience, why you want to be involved and links to your relevant work/linkedin/social media profile.
Human Practices Executive Committee
- Megan Palmer, Stanford University
- Todd Kuiken, Woodrow Wilson Center
- Sam Weiss Evans, Harvard University
- Peter Carr, MIT Lincoln Labs (Executive Judging Committee Point of Contact)
- Kim de Mora, iGEM (iGEM Point of Contact)
Human Practices Advisory Group
- Jane Calvert, University of Edinburgh
- Peter Carr, MIT Lincoln Labs (Executive Judging Committee Point of Contact)
- Sam Weiss Evans, Harvard University
- Emma Frow, Arizona State University
- David Lloyd, FREDsense Technologies
- Terry Johnson, University of California, Berkeley
- Linda Kahl, Biobricks Foundation
- Todd Kuiken, Woodrow Wilson Center
- Piers Millet, Biosecu.re
- Kim de Mora, iGEM (iGEM Point of Contact)
- Kenneth A. Oye, MIT
- Megan Palmer, Stanford University
- Edward You, FBI
