Difference between revisions of "Team:Calgary/Human Practices"

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2. Where it says NAME, type in name of section. This has to be the SAME thing you type in for every place it says NAME. for the NAME after the id, you cannot include spaces between words, so use dashes instead, also don't use capitals. (Ex. NAME of section is "Future Directions", so i would paste that in where ever it says NAME. for the NAME after the id, I would type in "future-directions".) Also type in desired HEADER and text where it says PASTE IN TEXT HERE.
  
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3. Now we have to add the section to the sidebar menu. For this, go through the code and find the part where it says SIDEBAR. where it says "replace-title" paste in the NAME you put in after the id (Ex. I would paste in "future-directions".) Where it says "Title" paste in the NAME of the section.  
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3. Now we have to add the section to the sidebar menu. For this, go through the code and find the part where it says SIDEBAR. where it says "replace-title" paste in the NAME you put in after the id (Ex. I would paste in "future-directions".) Where it says "Title" paste in the NAME of the section.
  
 
4. Now go to the part of the code where it says "References section of page slightly above the header". In the line of code after that, add in #NAME after a comma after the last one that is there before the curly brackets. (Ex. I would paste in #future-directions after the last item in that line of code after a comma.)
 
4. Now go to the part of the code where it says "References section of page slightly above the header". In the line of code after that, add in #NAME after a comma after the last one that is there before the curly brackets. (Ex. I would paste in #future-directions after the last item in that line of code after a comma.)
  
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5. I've included the example in the code so you can follow along.That's all. You're all done!! :D If you need help just ask!
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5. I've included the example in the code so you can follow along.That's all. You're all done!! :D If you need help just ask!
 
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           <h1 style="font-family: 'Public Sans', sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">INTEGRATED HUMAN PRACTICES</h1>
 
           <h1 style="font-family: 'Public Sans', sans-serif; font-weight: 600;">INTEGRATED HUMAN PRACTICES</h1>
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  <h4>Vitamin A Deficiency and the Creation of Oviita</h4>
 
  <h4>Vitamin A Deficiency and the Creation of Oviita</h4>
 
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       <b> Vitamin A deficiency</b> has long been a problem in vulnerable and developing areas. The topic has not been addressed by the media and larger organizations since the early 2000s. However, it turns out that vitamin A deficiency cases have reached a seven-year high, and numbers are expected to rise (Baker, 2019). Providing a solution to Vitamin A deficiency would not only prevent childhood blindness but also improve immunity to other diseases. Oviita’s vision is to see no child blinded by vitamin A deficiency. For this to happen, we wanted to make informed decisions. After all, many organizations have invested millions of dollars to alleviate this problem.  
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       <b> Vitamin A deficiency</b> has long been a problem in vulnerable and developing areas. The topic has not been addressed by the media and larger organizations since the early 2000s. However, it turns out that vitamin A deficiency cases have reached a seven-year high, and numbers are expected to rise (Baker, 2019). Providing a solution to Vitamin A deficiency would not only prevent childhood blindness but also improve immunity to other diseases. Oviita’s vision is to see no child blinded by vitamin A deficiency. For this to happen, we wanted to make informed decisions. After all, many organizations have invested millions of dollars to alleviate this problem.
  
 
<br><br>To fully understand the problem and design a plan to address it, our team utilized iGEM Calgary’s <b>human-centered design process</b> which leads to integration with key stakeholders and end users throughout the project lifecycle.
 
<br><br>To fully understand the problem and design a plan to address it, our team utilized iGEM Calgary’s <b>human-centered design process</b> which leads to integration with key stakeholders and end users throughout the project lifecycle.
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<br><br> Initially we thought that supplementing beta-carotene alone would solve the problem. Little did we know that Vitamin A Deficiency was caused by <b>multiple gaps/problems with compounding effects</b>.  
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<br><br> Initially we thought that supplementing beta-carotene alone would solve the problem. Little did we know that Vitamin A Deficiency was caused by <b>multiple gaps/problems with compounding effects</b>.
  
 
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            <h4> Alexa Calkhoven </h4>
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            <h6> Software Engineering </h6>
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            <h4> Andrew Symes </h4>
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            <h6> Statistics </h6>
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            <h4> Cedric Acierto </h4>
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            <h6> Software Engineering </h6>
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            <h4> Randy Moore </h4>
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            <h6> Electrical Engineering </h6>
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            <h4> Randy Moore </h4>
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            <h6> Electrical Engineering </h6>
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            <h4> Randy Moore </h4>
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            <h6> Electrical Engineering </h6>
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  <h4>What did we discover?</h4>
 
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Our HP contacts who work in the Philippines, Ghana, India, and Burkina Faso told us that VAD still affects a significant percentage of the children in their countries. The government plays a big role in promotion of growing beta-carotene biofortified crops and supplying vitamin A (retinol) capsules. However, these efforts are not enough.</p>
 
Our HP contacts who work in the Philippines, Ghana, India, and Burkina Faso told us that VAD still affects a significant percentage of the children in their countries. The government plays a big role in promotion of growing beta-carotene biofortified crops and supplying vitamin A (retinol) capsules. However, these efforts are not enough.</p>
 
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<b> Ineffective Delivery </b>      
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<b> Ineffective Delivery </b>
 
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         Past approaches such as the Golden Rice project and biofortification of other staple crops through genetic engineering did not work well because plants need months to grow and farmers would suffer economic losses because the biofortified crops can contaminate their non-fortified crops and prevent its export. Additionally, vitamin A supplementation through gel capsules is only done biannually. Health and nutritional organizations allot for more than 100% coverage of supplements, but social workers and mobile nurses are not always able to reach rural areas.  
+
         Past approaches such as the Golden Rice project and biofortification of other staple crops through genetic engineering did not work well because plants need months to grow and farmers would suffer economic losses because the biofortified crops can contaminate their non-fortified crops and prevent its export. Additionally, vitamin A supplementation through gel capsules is only done biannually. Health and nutritional organizations allot for more than 100% coverage of supplements, but social workers and mobile nurses are not always able to reach rural areas.
  
 
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         Many institutions from western companies have provided VAD-vulnerable countries with resources to combat the problem, but we learned that they don’t work well because these institutions do not leave infrastructure for the people to work with. As a result, their efforts go in vain as soon as they leave the country and stop providing resources. Many of these efforts also do not consider the culture and available resources in the country they are helping. Lastly, the money has to come from someone’s pocket. Even with cheap vitamin A capsule prices, transportation and distribution costs can still be economically straining. Most importantly, the people we are working with do not want external aid enforced on them. They want something sustainable-- something THEY can have ownership and accountability of.  
+
         Many institutions from western companies have provided VAD-vulnerable countries with resources to combat the problem, but we learned that they don’t work well because these institutions do not leave infrastructure for the people to work with. As a result, their efforts go in vain as soon as they leave the country and stop providing resources. Many of these efforts also do not consider the culture and available resources in the country they are helping. Lastly, the money has to come from someone’s pocket. Even with cheap vitamin A capsule prices, transportation and distribution costs can still be economically straining. Most importantly, the people we are working with do not want external aid enforced on them. They want something sustainable-- something THEY can have ownership and accountability of.
  
 
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Revision as of 03:27, 22 October 2020



OVERVIEW

Vitamin A Deficiency and the Creation of Oviita


Vitamin A deficiency has long been a problem in vulnerable and developing areas. The topic has not been addressed by the media and larger organizations since the early 2000s. However, it turns out that vitamin A deficiency cases have reached a seven-year high, and numbers are expected to rise (Baker, 2019). Providing a solution to Vitamin A deficiency would not only prevent childhood blindness but also improve immunity to other diseases. Oviita’s vision is to see no child blinded by vitamin A deficiency. For this to happen, we wanted to make informed decisions. After all, many organizations have invested millions of dollars to alleviate this problem.

To fully understand the problem and design a plan to address it, our team utilized iGEM Calgary’s human-centered design process which leads to integration with key stakeholders and end users throughout the project lifecycle.

Initially we thought that supplementing beta-carotene alone would solve the problem. Little did we know that Vitamin A Deficiency was caused by multiple gaps/problems with compounding effects.


UNDERSTANDING THE PROBLEM

Stakeholder Interviews

Before investing our energies in doing wet lab and dry lab work, we wanted to verify that Vitamin A Deficiency is still a problem. We talked to people who work directly with vitamin A deficiency: nutritionists, public health specialists, anthropologists, and doctors. We created conversation about the problems with past attempts in vitamin A supplementation programs, what the supplementation process is like, the current status of vitamin A internationally and countries they are in, and the bottlenecks in the supplementation process.

alexa

Alexa Calkhoven

Software Engineering
andrew

Andrew Symes

Statistics
cedric

Cedric Acierto

Software Engineering
randy

Randy Moore

Electrical Engineering
randy

Randy Moore

Electrical Engineering
randy

Randy Moore

Electrical Engineering

What did we discover?

Current State of Vitamin A Deficiency

Our HP contacts who work in the Philippines, Ghana, India, and Burkina Faso told us that VAD still affects a significant percentage of the children in their countries. The government plays a big role in promotion of growing beta-carotene biofortified crops and supplying vitamin A (retinol) capsules. However, these efforts are not enough.


Ineffective Delivery

Past approaches such as the Golden Rice project and biofortification of other staple crops through genetic engineering did not work well because plants need months to grow and farmers would suffer economic losses because the biofortified crops can contaminate their non-fortified crops and prevent its export. Additionally, vitamin A supplementation through gel capsules is only done biannually. Health and nutritional organizations allot for more than 100% coverage of supplements, but social workers and mobile nurses are not always able to reach rural areas.


Lack of Sustainability

Many institutions from western companies have provided VAD-vulnerable countries with resources to combat the problem, but we learned that they don’t work well because these institutions do not leave infrastructure for the people to work with. As a result, their efforts go in vain as soon as they leave the country and stop providing resources. Many of these efforts also do not consider the culture and available resources in the country they are helping. Lastly, the money has to come from someone’s pocket. Even with cheap vitamin A capsule prices, transportation and distribution costs can still be economically straining. Most importantly, the people we are working with do not want external aid enforced on them. They want something sustainable-- something THEY can have ownership and accountability of.


Designing Solutions

Thoughtful design of genetic constructs

In order to provide a sustainable, community-based solution, we plan to genetically modify Rhodosporidium toruloides, an oleaginous yeast that naturally produces beta-carotene and lipids, to be more robust and resource-efficient. By modifying the yeast to produce cellulase, it can then use common agricultural waste products as an energy source for synthesizing its oil. It can then be eaten as a vitamin A supplement. The yeast strain, while naturally safe and non-pathogenic, will also be genetically modified to include a kill switch for bio-containment, and optimized for oil production.


FUTURE DIRECTIONS

Next Steps

In order to provide a sustainable, community-based solution, we plan to genetically modify Rhodosporidium toruloides, an oleaginous yeast that naturally produces beta-carotene and lipids, to be more robust and resource-efficient. By modifying the yeast to produce cellulase, it can then use common agricultural waste products as an energy source for synthesizing its oil. It can then be eaten as a vitamin A supplement. The yeast strain, while naturally safe and non-pathogenic, will also be genetically modified to include a kill switch for bio-containment, and optimized for oil production.