Human Practices

Our final product is geared towards the dairy industry, we are developing a product that would essentially help to increase the yield and efficiency of dairy production, for example, cheese production. In order to create a relevant product which would actually benefit industry players, we discussed with some of the biggest stakeholders in the dairy industry. We also received critical feedback from ethics experts, government organizations and communication experts. Throughout this process of constant feedback, we did not only debate the relevance of our product for the dairy industry, we also tried to assess and improve the safety of our product. For further details on these discussion please refer to our our Human Practices Silver page.

Based on this continued feedback, we tried to enhance our product design and adjust parts in order to ensure that the final product is safe, does not contaminate food products with GMOs and lives up to our and stakeholder expectations. Evaluations from industry stakeholders helped shape our vision for the best possible implementation. To see the exact details of each interaction, and how it influenced our product please see our Integrated Human Practices page.

In addition to trying to adjust our design we also informed the general public about our project as well as trying to make the sometimes confusing world of synthetic biology and genetic engineering more accessible. For this, we were present during multiple public events and provided education targeting many different audiences. For further details refer to Public Engagement page.

Furthermore, we also believe the safety of our product for the users and the environment to be a non-negotiable necessity. To facilitate this, we discussed with some experts, and In collaboration with the RIVM (Dutch Government Institute for Health and Environment), we designed a game ‘Outbreak’ regarding synthetic biology safety. To read more about the different levels of safety issues which we took into account in developing our product, visit our Safety page.

While the lab work was an essential part of our project, it was not the only part of relevance on our iGEM journey. Our aim was to make a final product which would increase the efficiency of dairy production, the lab work facilitated the production and testing of the major components of our product. It is therefore with great pleasure that we direct you to our Applied design page to see a visual and structural representation of our vision.

Our journey as an iGEM team is coming to an end, but our project will not end with us. It has considerable potential for refinement and future use. To know more about this, take a peak in our Future outlook page.

Originally, our Human practices began as a way to fulfil the iGEM requirement of considering the implications of our product beyond the lab. Somewhere along the line, we began looking forward to the conversations, engagements, and going beyond the bare minimum to actually form connections and maximize the potential of our product for industry, public and other stakeholders. We hope you will enjoy the journey :)