Team:Edinburgh/Human/FutureApps

From 2010.igem.org

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Revision as of 23:51, 27 October 2010

Future Applications

Part of human aspects is the affect on the future of synthetic biology and the implications of that affect. We decided to have a 'future applications workshop' to discuss, argue and query the possible outcomes related to our project of biological parts communicating through light as well as inserting DNA cleanly.

During the workshop we discussed the possibility of iGEM closing and the effect that would have, in particular, to the work we have been doing. We also looked into the future of the open sourcing/privatisation debate.

Below are some illustrations of applications at various points of time in the future. Illustrations by Robbie Henderson.

Bacterial Eye, you don't know when other manufacturing resources will be available.
Glowing Body Paint, for replacing bulky high-vis clothing (building sites/ cycling) or just for aesthetics.

Envirotest, mass testing of enviroments using light-emitting, 'reactive' bacteria. In other words a 'sensorweb' (see Bruce Sterling).

Bio Light is the future of light filaments filled with Light Emitting Bacteria (the tubes feed/ replace the bacteria).

Light Emitting Bacteria make up this monitor. Provided with sufficient nutrients the Bacteria Screen can be any size or shape with minimal thickness and unlimited colour range.

conclusions

Although the workshop became a little messy at times it was very successful at producing a lot of ideas, consequences and debate around the potential of our project and the consequences of that potential. The discussion that ensued around logistical possibilities, safety issues and ethics was very valuable in getting the team to think beyond the lab and analyse how they felt about these issues.

Throughout this wiki there are words in bold that indicate a relevance to human aspects. It will become obvious that human aspects are a part of almost everything in iGEM.

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-Although the workshop became a little messy at time it was very successful at producing a lot of ideas, consequences and debate around the potential of our project and the consequences of that potential.
+Although the workshop became a little messy at times it was very successful at producing a lot of ideas, consequences and debate around the potential of our project and the consequences of that potential. The discussion that ensued around logistical possibilities, safety issues and ethics was very valuable in getting the team to think beyond the lab and analyse how they felt about these issues.
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