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- Building upon an existing hardware tool

According to the World Health Organization, cardiovascular diseases are one of the main causes of death worldwide. One of the main reasons prompting these diseases is the increased concentration of LDL cholesterol in the blood, while the category of drugs administered to control the aforementioned situation is called statins. However, 1/3 of patients do not respond effectively, ending with several side effects such as myopathy and liver associated problems. Depending on individuals' genetic profiles, the required therapeutic drug-dosage can be accurately determined by available but optional tests to avoid this toxicity. The SLCO1B1 gene regulates the metabolism of statins as it is involved in their uptake by liver cells.

Our team presents an innovative, time-saving, and portable genotyping method based on BentoLab for detecting genome polymorphism related to statins' metabolism, combined with Artificial Intelligence, to make a fast and accurate analysis of results to facilitate those who perform the test.

BentoLab is a mobile genomics setup that combines centrifuge, PCR, and gel visualization. In other words, it is a portable and ready-to-go molecular biology laboratory. However, paying a little more attention to its shape, we know that this MiniLab was already introduced to you back in 2013!

The UCL_E 2013 iGEM team members presented to the iGEM competition hardware crafted totally by them. The "Darwin Toolbox," as it was called back then, contained all the core tools for Biotechnology, and it was later transformed into "BentoLab," a start-up created by this team to start the mass production of their former iGEM project. Today, this company proves to be one of the most profitable and pioneering of its generation in Synthetic Biology, as it received the Good Design Award Gold 2020 accolade in the Product Design Medical and Scientific category in Australia's oldest and most prestigious international awards for design and innovation.

Key design considerations while building Darwin Toolbox; the first product towards making synthetic biology more accessible was the ease of use and affordability. Moreover, it could be effortlessly connected to a computer and synchronize experimental data such as pictures of the agarose electrophoresis' gels, PCR profiles, and timestamps.

Today, BentoLab has many applications, such as on-site library preparation, fungal DNA barcoding, decoding the DNA of beer of precision brewing, but it is well-known for its educational use as it provides hands-on experience to pupils and college students interested in Synthetic Biology.

But how is BentoLab related to us? Everything started when we decided to build upon this useful hardware and study pharmacogenomics' implementation to adjust the administered doses of statins. We visited our Professor's office to discuss our project. He agreed that working on statins, a clear-out drug category with only three genetic positions, is a brilliant idea. He proposed using a portable laboratory to perform all the necessary experiments for genomic analysis. He insisted that in this way, Pharmacogenomics is becoming more accessible as it is cheaper for a physician to acquire a portable laboratory to perform a test like ours than to look for a physical laboratory or to create one in his place, something that it is proven difficult for someone settled in a remote area.

Searching for similar projects using portable laboratories, we found out BentoLab, a start-up, started as an iGEM Project from UCL back in 2013. This portable Molecular Biology laboratory contains all the needed instruments to accomplish a genomic analysis, but it has only been used before for educational purposes. We immediately realized that we could transform it into a diagnostic tool!

It looked like it was the perfect time for us to reach our next goal, making BentoLab as easy to handle as possible. One of the main difficulties that health professionals could face after completing the experiments would be interpreting the results into actual clinical advice. To fill the existing educational gap, we thought it would be very beneficial for the user if there were software supporting him by translating the results into the proposed administered dosage.

So, we reach two major points regarding Project Hippocrates! The first pioneering part of our project's concept is that we transformed a portable educational laboratory into a diagnostic tool. Moreover, the second point is to integrate Artificial Intelligence in this tool. In this way, we assist Health professionals in suggesting the appropriate drug dosage to their patients by making it easier to handle through step-by-step guidance and a user-friendly interface.

Making the BentoLab-AI system available to public hospitals would be a significant step towards its implementation in clinical practice. The Ministry of Health and other relevant governmental agencies can make the BentoLab – AI software system available to public hospitals in metropolitan areas and remote ones, taking advantage of its portability. Through our system, the time needed for genomic analysis is decreased from 5-10 days to only 5-6 hours, while the cost is significantly reduced compared to existing methods.

A future team could set a remarkable goal to gather all the results in 1 database, easily accessible through computer programs (such as application, website). The results, stored in the database, could be used again if the patient has to follow this treatment, the dose of which is regulated by specific genes.

We will provide tailored service to private researchers, small businesses, and big companies that want to benefit from our low price technique and fast results. To achieve our goal, the large-scale production of our BentoLab-AI system is essential. Future financial support could allow us to supply laboratories, hospitals, and physicians, making the on-site genomic analysis accessible to every patient.

We believe that as the UCL_E team set an example for our team with the project "Darwin Toolbox," "Project Hippocrates" could also inspire future iGEM teams to use ours to develop their idea. To boost towards this direction, we added four (4) parts at iGEM's Parts Registry to help future teams use them or test the validity of the results that our primers gave us. More details about the primer designing procedure can be found in the "WetLab-Parts"section.

- The United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015, provides a shared blueprint for peace and prosperity for people and the planet, now and into the future. At its heart are the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), which are an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership.

The iGEM competition has already adopted these 17 UN's goals understanding the need for international cooperation to create a better future. Particularly, SDG 17 reads, "Strengthen the means of implementation and revitalize the Global Partnership for Sustainable Development." It recognizes multi-stakeholder partnerships as important vehicles for mobilizing and sharing knowledge, expertise, technologies, and financial resources to support the achievement of the sustainable development goals in all countries, particularly developing countries.

So, we adopted all the aforementioned goals, following the example that the iGEM Competition set and tried to implement them into our project. Starting with the 17th goal, we have set the ideals of cooperation and partnership as our fundamental values since the beginning of our journey.

Firstly, we should underline that SDG number 3 is a keystone of Project Hippocrates! Every one of our moves was in the direction of "ensuring healthy lives and promoting well-being for all ages" by reducing statins' side effects. Our work's global impact is easily understandable, taking into consideration that this category of drugs is widely administered against cardiovascular diseases, the first cause of deaths worldwide.

Furthermore, the 5th SDG is a goal that wants to "achieve gender equality and empower all women and girls." Investing and supporting gender equality is the only way for any scientific team that wants to succeed. History has shown that several women have succeeded in various scientific fields, such as J. Dudna & E.M. Charpentier, who awarded the Nobel prize in Chemistry 2020. Our composition proves that human gender equality plays an important role in our life as 8 out of our 18 members are women.

Sustainable economic growth - SDG number 8 - could also be achieved via Project Hippocrates. The Ministry of Health and other relevant governmental agencies can make the BentoLab – AI software system available to public hospitals not only in metropolitan areas but also in the remote ones, taking advantage of its portability. The time needed for genomic analysis is decreased through our system, while the cost is remarkably reduced compared to existing methods. Promoting sustained, inclusive, and sustainable economic growth, full and productive employment, and decent work for all has always been a great challenge for us. Still, we made it as we managed to propose a way to save money not only for the patients but also for the public health systems by reducing the side effects of drugs and hospitalization rates.

The 9th Sustainable Development Goal is also one of our main targets. Future financial support could allow us to achieve our system's mass production and "build resilient infrastructure, promote inclusive and sustainable industrialization, and foster innovation."

iGEM Patras 2020 team this year highlighted the efforts and projects of previous iGEM teams, gave practical and theoretical supplies to future generations and teams and supported 5 of the sustainable development goals established by the United Nations to be remarkable in the history of the iGEM competition.

Team:Patras/Contribution

Contribution

- Building upon an existing hardware tool

- The United Nations' 17 Sustainable Development Goals

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