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<h1 style="text-align:center">Silver Medal Human Practices</h1>
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We met with Dr. Jason Blackburn from the University of Florida to discuss the design of our project. Dr. Blackburn specializes in wildlife disease ecology and is the associate curator of amphibians and reptiles at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Dr. Blackburn was excited to hear about our project. He thought it would be a good idea to work with a singular antifungal compound in order to identify if the isolated bacterial metabolites have therapeutic potential against Chytridiomycosis. Dr. Blackburn pointed out that research has been conducted towards supplementing the amphibian skin microbiome with symbiotic bacteria to prevent the Chytridiomycosis infection. However bacterial metabolites synthesized from modified E. coli have not yet been tested. Dr. Blackburn discussed the potential of producing the bacterial metabolites on a larger scale for use in combating Chytridiomycosis because the bacterial metabolites do not come with the same health hazards that traditional antifungal treatments have for amphibians.
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We also received feedback on our project design from Dr. Anna Savage from the University of Central Florida. Dr. Savage’s research focuses on the immunogenetics and disease ecology of Chytridiomycosis and Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Dr. Savage expressed her concern that we were not appropriately distinguishing between effective antifungal activity against Bd (or another fungus in the Chytridiomycota family) in the lab, and prevention or treatment of the Chytridiomycosis infection in the natural environment. Unfortunately we were not able to receive permissions to test on frogs over the duration of the iGEM competition, but this step would be necessary for future experimental verification that the bacteria are capable of preventing infection in the natural environment. Dr. Savage also suggested that we consider several other secondary metabolite compounds to diversify the antifungal activity of our bacteria and to therefore ensure maximum antifungal against Bd. We did initially consider using violacein in addition to tryptophol, however violacein is a broad antifungal that would ecologically impact natural fungal species other than Bd. We struggled to find another antifungal compound that would have a minimal impact on the greater ecosystem so we decided to just modify E. coli to produce tryptophol for this project.
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We also started a community dialogue through events with the Florida Museum of Natural History and through presentations to classes at the University of Florida. Our public outreach can be seen here <li><a href="https://2017.igem.org/Team:UFlorida/Engagement">Public Engagement</a></li>
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<h3>Silver Medal Criterion #3</h3>
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<p>Convince the judges you have thought carefully and creatively about whether your work is safe, responsible and good for the world. You could accomplish this through engaging with your local, national and/or international communities or other approaches. Please note that standard surveys will not fulfill this criteria.</p>
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<h1 style ="text-align:center">UFlorida Project Design</h1>
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<h5>Some Human Practices topic areas </h5>
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<li>Philosophy</li>
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<li>Public Engagement / Dialogue</li>
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<li>Education</li>
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<li>Product Design</li>
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<li>Scale-Up and Deployment Issues</li>
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<li>Environmental Impact</li>
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<li>Ethics</li>
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<li>Safety</li>
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<li>Security</li>
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<li>Public Policy</li>
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<li>Law and Regulation</li>
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<li>Risk Assessment</li>
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</ul>
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<p>Through our research on Chytridiomycosis, we learned several frog species existed which had natural resistance to infection as a result of symbiotic bacteria living on their skin. These symbiotic bacteria produce metabolites that kill or inhibit the growth of the chytrid fungus. Many strategies for combating Chytridiomycosis focus on inoculating amphibians with these symbiotic bacteria. However, these bacteria are not widespread among amphibian species. Our team decided to modify the more ubiquitous E. coli to produce a metabolite from the symbiotic bacteria as a potential treatment for Chytridiomycosis.
 
  
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Initially we planned on using violacein, a metabolite of J. lividum. J. lividum is the most widely recognized bacteria to inhibit Bd growth and several studies indicate that violacein is the primary reason why the bacteria can confer resistance against Chytridiomycosis. However; violacein has broad antibacterial and antifungal properties and there was concern that it would be harmful to introduce it into to ecosystems in which it was not naturally present.
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<h5>What should we write about on this page?</h5>
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<p>On this page, you should write about the Human Practices topics you considered in your project, and document any special activities you did (such as visiting experts, talking to lawmakers, or doing public engagement). This should include all of the work done for the Silver Medal Criterion #3. Details for your Gold medal work and/or work for the two Human Practices special prizes should be put on those specified pages.</p>
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Tryptophol is a secondary metabolite produced by a Bacillus sp. and Chitinophaga arvensicola in co-culture. It was selected for this project because it showed the greatest inhibition of Bd out of 45 metabolites produced by a Bacillus sp., Janithobacterium lividum., a Pseudomonas sp., and Chitinophaga arvensicola. These species were cultured both independently and in combination (Loudon et al. 2014).
 
  
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Our proposed method of application of the modified E. coli would be via soil bioaugmentation in regions of affected amphibian populations. Bioaugmentation with J. lividum has been shown to be an effective method of inoculating amphibians against Bd (Muletz et al. 2012). We believe it would be a useful application of our modified E. coli as well. Tryptophol is an antifungal well suited to this strategy, especially as it does not have disadvantageous antifungal activity on mycorrhizae (Barroso et al. 1986) which we believe will minimize the effects of the bacteria on local flora. Our aim is to reduce disturbance on the commensal bacterial relationships and avoid stimulation of any opportunistic pathogens.  
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<h5>Inspiration</h5>
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<p>Read what other teams have done:</p>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:Dundee/policypractice/experts">2014 Dundee </a></li>
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<li><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:UC_Davis/Policy_Practices_Overview">2014 UC Davis </a></li>
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<li><a href="https://2013.igem.org/Team:Manchester/HumanPractices">2013 Manchester </a></li>
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<li><a href="https://2013.igem.org/Team:Cornell/outreach">2013 Cornell </a></li>
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We tested our bacteria to determine if tryptophol was being produced using HPLC and we plated tryptophol against a fungus in the Chytridiomycota family to verify tryptophol’s effectiveness against Bd.</p>
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<h3 style ="text-align:center">Sources</h3>
 
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<p>Barroso, J., Neves, H. C., & Pais, M. S. (1986). Production Of Indole-3-E Thanol And Indole-3-A Cetic Acid By The Mycorrhizal Fungus Of Ophrys Lutea (Orchid Aceae). New Phytologist, 103(4), 745-749. doi:10.1111/j.1469-8137.1986.tb00849.x
 
  
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Loudon, A. H., Holland, J. A., Umile, T. P., Burzynski, E. A., Minbiole, K. P., & Harris, R. N. (2014). Interactions between amphibians symbiotic bacteria cause the production of emergent anti-fungal metabolites. Frontiers in Microbiology, 5. doi:10.3389/fmicb.2014.00441
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<h3>★  ALERT! </h3>
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<p>This page is used by the judges to evaluate your team for the <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Judging/Medals">medal criterion</a> or <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Judging/Awards"> award listed above</a>. </p>
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<p> Delete this box in order to be evaluated for this medal criterion and/or award. See more information at <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Judging/Pages_for_Awards"> Instructions for Pages for awards</a>.</p>
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<h1>Gold Medal and Integrated Human Practices</h1>
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<p>This page will contain information for your Gold medal Human Practices work, which you can also use to nominate your team for the Best Integrated Human Practices page. To make things easier, we have combined the Gold medal page with the Best Integrated Human Practices page since we expect the work to overlap considerably. </p>
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<p>iGEM teams are unique and leading the field because they "go beyond the lab" to imagine their projects in a social/environmental context, to better understand issues that might influence the design and use of their technologies.</p>
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<p>Teams work with students and advisors from the humanities and social sciences to explore topics concerning ethical, legal, social, economic, safety or security issues related to their work. Consideration of these Human Practices is crucial for building safe and sustainable projects that serve the public interest. </p>
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<p>For more information, please see the <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Competition/Human_Practices">Human Practices page</a>.</p>
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<h3>Gold Medal Criterion #1</h3>
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<p>Expand on your silver medal activity by demonstrating how you have integrated the investigated issues into the design and/or execution of your project.</p>
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<h3>Best Integrated Human Practices Special Prize</h3>
  
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<p>
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To compete for the <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Judging/Awards">Best Integrated Human Practices prize</a>, please describe your work on this page and also fill out the description on the <a href="https://2017.igem.org/Judging/Judging_Form">judging form</a>.
 
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You must also delete the message box on the top of this page to be eligible for this prize.
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</p>
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<div class="clear"></div>
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<h5>Inspiration</h5>
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<p>Here are a few examples of excellent Integrated Human Practices work:</p>
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<ul>
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<li><a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:INSA-Lyon/Integrated_Practices">2016 INSA Lyon</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://2016.igem.org/Team:UofC_Calgary/Integrated_Practices">2016 UofC Calgary</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Bielefeld-CeBiTec/Practices">2015 Bielefeld</a></li>
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<li><a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:Edinburgh/Practices">2015 Edinburgh</a></li>
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</ul>
  
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Muletz, C. R., Myers, J. M., Domangue, R. J., Herrick, J. B., & Harris, R. N. (2012). Soil bioaugmentation with amphibian cutaneous bacteria protects amphibian hosts from infection by Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis. Biological Conservation, 152, 119-126. doi:10.1016/j.biocon.2012.03.022 </p>
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Latest revision as of 15:55, 31 October 2017

Silver Medal Human Practices

We met with Dr. Jason Blackburn from the University of Florida to discuss the design of our project. Dr. Blackburn specializes in wildlife disease ecology and is the associate curator of amphibians and reptiles at the Florida Museum of Natural History. Dr. Blackburn was excited to hear about our project. He thought it would be a good idea to work with a singular antifungal compound in order to identify if the isolated bacterial metabolites have therapeutic potential against Chytridiomycosis. Dr. Blackburn pointed out that research has been conducted towards supplementing the amphibian skin microbiome with symbiotic bacteria to prevent the Chytridiomycosis infection. However bacterial metabolites synthesized from modified E. coli have not yet been tested. Dr. Blackburn discussed the potential of producing the bacterial metabolites on a larger scale for use in combating Chytridiomycosis because the bacterial metabolites do not come with the same health hazards that traditional antifungal treatments have for amphibians.

We also received feedback on our project design from Dr. Anna Savage from the University of Central Florida. Dr. Savage’s research focuses on the immunogenetics and disease ecology of Chytridiomycosis and Batrachochytrium dendrobatidis (Bd). Dr. Savage expressed her concern that we were not appropriately distinguishing between effective antifungal activity against Bd (or another fungus in the Chytridiomycota family) in the lab, and prevention or treatment of the Chytridiomycosis infection in the natural environment. Unfortunately we were not able to receive permissions to test on frogs over the duration of the iGEM competition, but this step would be necessary for future experimental verification that the bacteria are capable of preventing infection in the natural environment. Dr. Savage also suggested that we consider several other secondary metabolite compounds to diversify the antifungal activity of our bacteria and to therefore ensure maximum antifungal against Bd. We did initially consider using violacein in addition to tryptophol, however violacein is a broad antifungal that would ecologically impact natural fungal species other than Bd. We struggled to find another antifungal compound that would have a minimal impact on the greater ecosystem so we decided to just modify E. coli to produce tryptophol for this project.

We also started a community dialogue through events with the Florida Museum of Natural History and through presentations to classes at the University of Florida. Our public outreach can be seen here
  • Public Engagement

    • Silver Medal Criterion #3

    Convince the judges you have thought carefully and creatively about whether your work is safe, responsible and good for the world. You could accomplish this through engaging with your local, national and/or international communities or other approaches. Please note that standard surveys will not fulfill this criteria.

    Some Human Practices topic areas
    • Philosophy
    • Public Engagement / Dialogue
    • Education
    • Product Design
    • Scale-Up and Deployment Issues
    • Environmental Impact
    • Ethics
    • Safety
    • Security
    • Public Policy
    • Law and Regulation
    • Risk Assessment
    What should we write about on this page?

    On this page, you should write about the Human Practices topics you considered in your project, and document any special activities you did (such as visiting experts, talking to lawmakers, or doing public engagement). This should include all of the work done for the Silver Medal Criterion #3. Details for your Gold medal work and/or work for the two Human Practices special prizes should be put on those specified pages.

    Inspiration

    Read what other teams have done:



    ★ ALERT!

    This page is used by the judges to evaluate your team for the medal criterion or award listed above.

    Delete this box in order to be evaluated for this medal criterion and/or award. See more information at Instructions for Pages for awards.

    Gold Medal and Integrated Human Practices

    This page will contain information for your Gold medal Human Practices work, which you can also use to nominate your team for the Best Integrated Human Practices page. To make things easier, we have combined the Gold medal page with the Best Integrated Human Practices page since we expect the work to overlap considerably.

    iGEM teams are unique and leading the field because they "go beyond the lab" to imagine their projects in a social/environmental context, to better understand issues that might influence the design and use of their technologies.

    Teams work with students and advisors from the humanities and social sciences to explore topics concerning ethical, legal, social, economic, safety or security issues related to their work. Consideration of these Human Practices is crucial for building safe and sustainable projects that serve the public interest.

    For more information, please see the Human Practices page.

    Gold Medal Criterion #1

    Expand on your silver medal activity by demonstrating how you have integrated the investigated issues into the design and/or execution of your project.

    Best Integrated Human Practices Special Prize

    To compete for the Best Integrated Human Practices prize, please describe your work on this page and also fill out the description on the judging form.

    You must also delete the message box on the top of this page to be eligible for this prize.

    Inspiration

    Here are a few examples of excellent Integrated Human Practices work: