Difference between revisions of "Team:Paris Bettencourt/Human Practices"

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<h3>★  ALERT! </h3>
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<h1>Human Practices - Integrated Design</h1>
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<p>This page is used by the judges to evaluate your team for the <a href="https://2018.igem.org/Judging/Medals">medal criterion</a> or <a href="https://2018.igem.org/Judging/Awards"> award listed below</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://2018.igem.org/Judging/Pages_for_Awards"> Instructions for Pages for awards</a>.</p>
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<h2 id="Introduction">Introduction</h2>
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<br> <br>
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<div class="center">
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<video width="50%" height="480" controls>
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<source src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/f/f9/T--Paris_Bettencourt--Antibiotic_resistance.mp4">
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<p>We are a group of diverse talents coming from different fields aiming to solve one of the world’s current challenges through synthetic biology. This year, we are tackling the global threat of <b>antimicrobial resistance</b>. With the increase in the number of multidrug-resistant bacteria, antimicrobial resistance is one of the public health threats we face today.
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<p>Antibiotic overuse in<b> livestock industry </b>is one of the major drivers to the antibiotic resistance evolution — motivating calls to reduce, replace, and re-think the antibiotic usage in animals. <b>Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs)</b> are a promising alternative to conventional antibiotics. Recently, a class of chemically-synthesized, star-shaped AMPs has been shown to exhibit broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity while maintaining biocompatibility with mammalian cells. 
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<p> As we design our work in constructing <b>StarCores</b>, we stumbled upon essential questions such as, what type of AMP to use that will yield into a stable protein structure conformation? More importantly, what antibiotics do we need to replace, particularly in the livestock industry? In order to narrow down our broad concept, we did literature search and reached out to the people who are involved in this line of work such as veterinarians and farmers.</p>
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<h1>Human Practices</h1>
 
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At iGEM we believe societal considerations should be upfront and integrated throughout the design and execution of synthetic biology projects. “Human Practices” refers to iGEM teams’ efforts to actively consider how the world affects their work and the work affects the world. Through your Human Practices activities, your team should demonstrate how you have thought carefully and creatively about whether your project is responsible and good for the world. We invite you to explore issues relating (but not limited) to the ethics, safety, security, and sustainability of your project, and to show how this exploration feeds back into your project purpose, design and execution.
 
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<p>Without further ado, the <b>integrated human practice section</b> tells the  wonderful story of how we went from simple, monomeric AMPs into a  nontoxic, multimeric StarCores aiming to treat gastrointestinal infection in piglet caused by Gram-negative bacteria.</p>
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<p>For more information, please see the <a href="https://2018.igem.org/Human_Practices">Human Practices Hub</a>. There you will find:</p>
 
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<ul>
 
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<li> an <a href="https://2018.igem.org/Human_Practices/Introduction">introduction</a> to Human Practices at iGEM </li>
 
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<li>tips on <a href="https://2018.igem.org/Human_Practices/How_to_Succeed">how to succeed</a> including explanations of judging criteria and advice about how to conduct and document your Human Practices work</li>
 
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<li>descriptions of <a href="https://2018.igem.org/Human_Practices/Examples">exemplary work</a> to inspire you</li>
 
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<li>links to helpful <a href="https://2018.igem.org/Human_Practices/Resources">resources</a></li>
 
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<li>And more! </li>
 
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<h2>Results</h2>
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<div class='textbody h3'>
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<h3><b>France has a robust policy to reduce antibiotic resistance</b></h3>
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<p>On this page, your team should document all of your Human Practices work and activities. You should write about the Human Practices topics you considered in your project, document any activities you conducted to explore these topics (such as engaging with experts and stakeholders), describe why you took a particular approach (including referencing any work you built upon), and explain if and how you integrated takeaways from your Human Practices work back into your project purpose, design and/or execution. </p>
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<p>Since 2001, France has implemented a series of policies to combat the rise of antibiotic resistance. The overall goals could be summarized as follows:</p>
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<p>If your team has gone above and beyond in work related to safety, then you should document this work on your Safety wiki page and provide a description and link on this page. If your team has developed education and public engagement efforts that go beyond a focus on your particular project, and for which would like to nominate your team for the Best Education and Public Engagement Special Prize, you should document this work on your Education and Education wiki page and provide a description and link here. </p>
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<li>To “reduce, replace and re-think” the use of antibiotics in humans and animals.</li></br>
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<p>The iGEM judges will review this page to assess whether you have met the Silver and/or Gold medal requirements based on the Integrated Human Practices criteria listed below. If you nominate your team for the <a href="https://2018.igem.org/Judging/Awards">Best Integrated Human Practices Special Prize</a> by filling out the corresponding field in the <a href="https://2018.igem.org/Judging/Judging_Form">judging form</a>, the judges will also review this page to consider your team for that prize.
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<li>To raise awareness of the problem among doctors, veterinarians and the public.</li></br>
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<li>To coordinate policy with other countries under the slogan “One World, One Health.”</li></br>
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</div>
 
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<div class='textbody'>
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<p>We studied these policies, using them to frame our own research. From this, we learned about ECOANTIBIO, a national plan created by the Ministry of Health to reduce antibiotic use in livestock by 25% over five years. This program is coordinated with similar efforts to reduce antibiotic use in humans, with the knowledge that antibiotic resistance can pass easily from animal to human pathogens.</p><p>The policy goal to raise awareness was successful in France. Thanks to our study of the existing French policy, we realized that the veterinary sector was a major priority.</p>
 
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<h3><b>Veterinarians confront antibiotic resistance in pigs</h3>
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<div class='textbody'>
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<p>We reached out to our personal networks to find people on the front lines of antibiotic resistance. We traveled to Brittany, a major center of French meat production, and met with:</p>
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<li><em>Marc Quere</em>, a retired veterinarian and writer.</li></br>
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<li><em>Paul Pfister</em>, the CEO of a large veterinary practice.</li></br>
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<li><em>Benoît Quéro</em>, a vet and the mayor of Plumeliau, a farming town.</li></br>
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<p>From these veterinarians, we learned of the real-world challenges of treating antibiotics in piglets. Pork represents 46% of the meat consumed in France, making the pig industry a major consumer of antibiotics.</p>
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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 responsible and good for the world. Document how you have investigated these issues and engaged with your relevant communities, why you chose this approach, and what you have learned. Please note that surveys will not fulfill this criteria unless you follow scientifically valid methods. </p>
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<p>Piglets in particular are sensitive to digestive disease and easily die from them, so farmers treat infections aggressively. We decided to target piglet intestinal infections for our application.</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 purpose, design and/or execution of your project. Document how your project has changed based upon your human practices work.
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<h3><b>The importance of <i>E. coli</i> and other Gram-negatives</b></h3>
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</div>
 
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<div class='textbody'>
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<p>Once we had decided to focus on pig intestine infections,  we wanted more specific data about the pathogens and resistances at work. We attended the conference “Antimicrobial Resistance and Society” at the Institut Curie. There we met Jean-Yves Madec, scientific director of ANSES, the national food security agency.</p>
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<p> He confirmed for us that piglet gut infections are a major concern and that E. coli and other Gram-negative pathogens are the most common cause.</p>
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</div>
  
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<div class='textbody'>
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<p>With his help, we obtained access to raw data from PORC 2017, a surveillance program for antibiotic resistance in animals. These data highlight amoxicillin and tetracycline as drugs with the most frequent evolved resistance. With this information, we knew which bacterial species we needed to target and which drugs we needed to replace.</p>
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<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/f/fe/T--Paris_Bettencourt--amoxicillin_resistance.png" style="width:1000px;height:700px;">
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<div class='textbody'>
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<p>Table 1: <i>E. coli</i> sensitivity to several families of antibiotics from French pigs of farms in Brittany.<i> E. coli</i> appears to be the least sensitive towards Tetracyclin. The colours indicate the types of antibiotics.</p>
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<h3>Best Integrated Human Practices Special Prize</h3>
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<h2>Publishing our Work in The Conversation</h2>
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</div>
  
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<p>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. </p>
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<div class='textbody'>
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<p>Our research into the problem of antibiotic resistance brought us into contact with farmers, doctors, researchers and policy professionals all over France. Along the way, we befriended many good people from different domains, united by a common goal. We had even obtained an original, unpublished data set to study and analyze.</br></p>
 +
<p>Thinking back to the original policy goals that motivated us, one of them was raising awareness and informing the public. We contacted The Conversation, a news magazine that specializes in making academic research accessible to the public. With help from their journalists and editors, our study of antibiotic resistance in France was published in both French and English.</p>
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<p>How does your project affect society and how does society influence the direction of your project? How might ethical considerations and stakeholder input guide your project purpose and design and the experiments you conduct in the lab? How does this feedback enter into the process of your work all through the iGEM competition? Document a thoughtful and creative approach to exploring these questions and how your project evolved in the process to compete for this award!</p>
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<p>You must also delete the message box on the top of this page to be eligible for this prize.</p>
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<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/e/ea/T--Paris_Bettencourt--the_conversation.png">
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<p>Article :
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<a href="https://theconversation.com/porcelet-bacteries-et-antibioresistance-un-trio-dangereux-pour-la-sante-humaine-104723"> Piglets, bacteria and antibiotic resistance: a dangerous combination for human health</a>
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<a href="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2018/6/66/T--Paris_Bettencourt--Article-Piglets-Bacteria-Antibiotic-Resistance-TheConversation.pdf" target="_blank">PDF</a></p>
 
</div>
 
</div>
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<div class='textbody h2'>
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<h2>Integrated Design</h2>
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</div>
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<br> <br>
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<div class='textbody'>
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<p>Our work in Integrated Design lead us to the key features needed for our antibiotic replacement.</p>
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</div>
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<div class='textbody'>
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<td>
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<li>An antimicrobial peptide</li></br>
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<li>to replace amoxicillin and tetracycline</li></br>
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<li>for killing Gram-negative E.coli</li></br>
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<li>in the piglet intestine</li></br>
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<li>with low toxicity to mammalian cells</li></br>
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</td>
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</div>
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</body>
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{{Paris_Bettencourt/Templatesbottom}}

Latest revision as of 10:51, 10 December 2018

Human Practices - Integrated Design

Introduction




We are a group of diverse talents coming from different fields aiming to solve one of the world’s current challenges through synthetic biology. This year, we are tackling the global threat of antimicrobial resistance. With the increase in the number of multidrug-resistant bacteria, antimicrobial resistance is one of the public health threats we face today.

Antibiotic overuse in livestock industry is one of the major drivers to the antibiotic resistance evolution — motivating calls to reduce, replace, and re-think the antibiotic usage in animals. Antimicrobial peptides (AMPs) are a promising alternative to conventional antibiotics. Recently, a class of chemically-synthesized, star-shaped AMPs has been shown to exhibit broad-spectrum antimicrobial activity while maintaining biocompatibility with mammalian cells. 

As we design our work in constructing StarCores, we stumbled upon essential questions such as, what type of AMP to use that will yield into a stable protein structure conformation? More importantly, what antibiotics do we need to replace, particularly in the livestock industry? In order to narrow down our broad concept, we did literature search and reached out to the people who are involved in this line of work such as veterinarians and farmers.

Without further ado, the integrated human practice section tells the wonderful story of how we went from simple, monomeric AMPs into a nontoxic, multimeric StarCores aiming to treat gastrointestinal infection in piglet caused by Gram-negative bacteria.

Results

France has a robust policy to reduce antibiotic resistance

Since 2001, France has implemented a series of policies to combat the rise of antibiotic resistance. The overall goals could be summarized as follows:

  • To “reduce, replace and re-think” the use of antibiotics in humans and animals.

  • To raise awareness of the problem among doctors, veterinarians and the public.

  • To coordinate policy with other countries under the slogan “One World, One Health.”

    • We studied these policies, using them to frame our own research. From this, we learned about ECOANTIBIO, a national plan created by the Ministry of Health to reduce antibiotic use in livestock by 25% over five years. This program is coordinated with similar efforts to reduce antibiotic use in humans, with the knowledge that antibiotic resistance can pass easily from animal to human pathogens.

    The policy goal to raise awareness was successful in France. Thanks to our study of the existing French policy, we realized that the veterinary sector was a major priority.

    Veterinarians confront antibiotic resistance in pigs

    We reached out to our personal networks to find people on the front lines of antibiotic resistance. We traveled to Brittany, a major center of French meat production, and met with:

  • Marc Quere, a retired veterinarian and writer.

  • Paul Pfister, the CEO of a large veterinary practice.

  • Benoît Quéro, a vet and the mayor of Plumeliau, a farming town.

    • From these veterinarians, we learned of the real-world challenges of treating antibiotics in piglets. Pork represents 46% of the meat consumed in France, making the pig industry a major consumer of antibiotics.

    Piglets in particular are sensitive to digestive disease and easily die from them, so farmers treat infections aggressively. We decided to target piglet intestinal infections for our application.

    The importance of E. coli and other Gram-negatives

    Once we had decided to focus on pig intestine infections, we wanted more specific data about the pathogens and resistances at work. We attended the conference “Antimicrobial Resistance and Society” at the Institut Curie. There we met Jean-Yves Madec, scientific director of ANSES, the national food security agency.

    He confirmed for us that piglet gut infections are a major concern and that E. coli and other Gram-negative pathogens are the most common cause.

    With his help, we obtained access to raw data from PORC 2017, a surveillance program for antibiotic resistance in animals. These data highlight amoxicillin and tetracycline as drugs with the most frequent evolved resistance. With this information, we knew which bacterial species we needed to target and which drugs we needed to replace.

    Table 1: E. coli sensitivity to several families of antibiotics from French pigs of farms in Brittany. E. coli appears to be the least sensitive towards Tetracyclin. The colours indicate the types of antibiotics.

    Publishing our Work in The Conversation

    Our research into the problem of antibiotic resistance brought us into contact with farmers, doctors, researchers and policy professionals all over France. Along the way, we befriended many good people from different domains, united by a common goal. We had even obtained an original, unpublished data set to study and analyze.

    Thinking back to the original policy goals that motivated us, one of them was raising awareness and informing the public. We contacted The Conversation, a news magazine that specializes in making academic research accessible to the public. With help from their journalists and editors, our study of antibiotic resistance in France was published in both French and English.

    Article : Piglets, bacteria and antibiotic resistance: a dangerous combination for human health PDF

    Integrated Design



    Our work in Integrated Design lead us to the key features needed for our antibiotic replacement.

  • An antimicrobial peptide

  • to replace amoxicillin and tetracycline

  • for killing Gram-negative E.coli

  • in the piglet intestine

  • with low toxicity to mammalian cells

    • Centre for Research and Interdisciplinarity (CRI)
    Faculty of Medicine Cochin Port-Royal, South wing, 2nd floor
    Paris Descartes University
    24, rue du Faubourg Saint Jacques
    75014 Paris, France
    paris-bettencourt-2018@cri-paris.org