The voice of experience: speaking with experts

Although our team is conformed by biotechnologists, civil engineers, chemical engineers, designers and social workers we are not expert nor do we handle all areas of knowledge, so it was imminent to seek and contact professionals in a wide range of areas for helping us to understand in what conditions are the laws, projects and technologies associated with our work.

We started attending the MIT Global Start-up Workshop, that was held in Santiago, to learn about entrepreneurship, how to do a correct elevator pitch and how to start a business. Then we arranged a meeting with PhD. Tomás Egaña, who is leading an investigation with the microalgae that we are using, but for tissue regeneration! Also, via email the LMU München guided and helped us with the genetic constructions for our Chlamy, which is summarized here.

MIT GSW learning about enterpreneurship.

Knowing how difficult it is to enter a microorganism to Chile, we decided to write a protocol step-by-step for a correct importation. Download it here (it is in Spanish).

After the surveys results indicating that energy and transportation were the most perceived contributors to air pollution, the Energy Ministry was contacted by us, asking about the total emissions in Chile and some plans that are done to reduce them. Subsequently we knew that the Puchuncaví commune was our objective, specifically Los Maitenes town, because of the high concenration of thermoelectric plants in the Quintero’s bay, so we visited the environmental department of the municipality and contacted the Clean Energy enterprise that works with carbon capturing from one thermoelectric plant in the area. From these interviews we learned the importance of environmental protection in the region and that all the efforts must be concentrated on restoring the place and increase the inhabitant's life quality.

Clean Energy Plant [Source: www.clean-energy.cl]

Finally, part of the team visited the Agricultural and Livestock Service (SAG) in order to learn about present MGOs regulations, and the other part of the team attended the VI National Congress of Biotechnology Students, held in Concepción, to study vegetal and sea biotechnologies to do our best efforts to remediate Los Maitenes.

VI National Congress of Biotechnology Students