As a part of our project, we considered it important to reach out to experts in the field of synthetic biology and biotechnology. We contacted renowned researchers to enquire insight into the development of this field and gather information about our community's relationship with synthetic biology-based therapies and diagnostic tools. During these interviews, we aimed to learn about the obstacles novel therapies are facing and what is the general perception of the public about genetic engineering. We combined the observations of experts with our project goals to refine our design.
As we began our project, we consulted with our tutor and revered mentor, Professor László Nyitray. He has been a teacher and researcher for many years at ELTE Faculty of Sciences, and he was honored many times with awards for His work in education and research. He was our first choice since He has great experience in biochemistry.
From Professor Nyitray, we have learned that patients often need a cheaper and simpler method of treatment. Thanks to Him, we learned that reducing the financial burden of people with diseases is a much-needed goal in our community. Besides this, He also gave us an insight into genetically modified organisms and inducible systems. He gave us the inspiration to work with a simple and easily controlled system, like a light activatable one. The conversations with Him were always fruitful for our project and His advice was always taken into consideration when we were planning NanoBlade.
“Today’s pharmaceutical technologies are so complicated and expensive that it can only be simple than that. The expensive medicines are often financially supported for only one round of therapy, there is no support for another one. More affordable options are needed.”
“Light-inducible systems are more optional than systems based on omics. Hardware and tools used for light induction are definitely useful in diagnostics.”
“The usability of probiotics is definitely a beneficial research area for innovation.”
To gain insight into the situation of synthetic biology in Hungary and its connection with cancer patients, we interviewed prominent researchers in our country. We met with our tutor Professor Imre Kacskovics, Dean of ELTE Faculty of Sciences, Founder and CEO of Immunogenes ltd. He has great experience in the field of Hungarian scientific research and pharmaceutical endeavors. A researcher and teacher Himself, the insight He gave us was used in our surveys and our educational activities.
We have found that in Hungary there is a need for more accessible and more straightforward treatments. Albeit, synthetic biology, and biotechnology are advancing fields in Hungary. With our design diagnostics and therapeutics could be available to a wider public, not just to those who can afford them.
“We have excellent research groups with excellent results and published papers. In Hungary, genetically modified bacteria, fungi, and animals are used widely in research.”
“Drugs like monoclonal antibodies are fully accessible to Hungarian patients. The only problem they are facing is the financial cost of these therapies.”
“The spread of newly developed drugs and medicines is similar to those of other European countries, the speed is solely dependent on money and the acceptance by clinicians.”
“Cell-based therapies like CAR-T are just at the beginning of their application, however, bacterial therapies are currently not in practice nor are they a field of research. These methods are hopeful; the main issue with them is safety.”
To gather information about the safety issues genetically engineered bacterial therapies are challenged with, we interviewed a professional from the Imperial College of London, Dr. David T Riglar.
What we have learned from Him is that synthetic biological applications can be accepted when there is an urgent need and safety is proven. The applications of cell-based therapy can be a new opening toward personalized treatments, although there are many obstacles to be tackled. However, the ultimate goal is to have a treatment in pill form administered regularly. Apart from cancer, engineered bacteria can be utilized to fight against other diseases. Even though we are targeting tumor cells, this gives our system a future and many opportunities to be used.
"You need to show that is going to be safe, and you need to demonstrate that there is a need. If you can demonstrate that there is a need, and it is safe, then genetic modification doesn't make it different."
"It is very clear that the diversity in people's microbiota has links to personal variations in a range of different diseases. Inherently, it does put it into the field of personalized medicine. Probiotics will interact differently depending on people's original microbiota."
"There are many obstacles faced by bacteria-based therapies. Whether escape, whether it is the entirety of the bacterium, possible horizontal gene transfer, or moving parts that potentially can be utilized by native members of the microbiota. Mutation, selection, and how that affects the function of those organisms. The most likely mutation will be that the circuit causes problems, and it will turn off."
"The application of bacteria-based therapy is very dependent on the disease context. The ultimate vision of the probiotics is that you will be able to deliver them to the patients in a way it does not involve too much direct and long, ongoing contact with clinicians because it is costly and difficult to administer. The utmost hope would be that you can provide it in some form of pill or delivery form a patient can take from time to time."
"The idea that you are supplementing a missing activity by providing bacteria in an ongoing fashion by giving someone a pill and having an activity outside of the clinic is the ultimate goal."
"I think there are a lot of things engineered living organisms can do that traditional approaches cannot necessarily do."
"I find synthetic biology exciting because you can get access to a new set of tools that I don't think we currently can replicate with traditional techniques."
"There will be examples in the future where these techniques are used. The system has to be robust, and they need to be safe, and there are still hurdles that these techniques have to jump over to be more generally used."
"Every engineered system is unique in some way and has different layers of potential biosafety and growth protections."
"For anything that has a verified link to microbial processes, there are potential ways to use engineered bacteria, whether it is an imbalance in the abundance of specific microbes or a presence or absence of a specific function of the microbiota."
"People have been working in the synthetic biology field on infectious diseases, and autoimmune diseases e.g. IBD, obesity, and diabetes. There are almost too many to list."
As our project was developing we also reached out to Hungarian specialists and in Dr. Árpád Patai we found a great advisor on the current status of healthcare systems. He is a gastroenterologist focusing on colon cancer research and medical care. He has great experience in what patients seek when they are diagnosed with cancer.
“If this system would work, it would serve well as an adjuvant, a supplement for traditional therapies. When a patient is diagnosed with cancer, they immediately become scared of basic treatment options like surgery, and chemotherapy. There are even cases when diagnosed patients reject the treatment as they do not want to undergo months and months of misery. These therapies have bad reputations because of their side effects. That is why I think a treatment like NanoBlade would have potential since it possibly has fewer unwanted effects, and patients would prefer this bacterial treatment.”
“When patients are diagnosed with serious diseases like cancer, they often tend to accept genetically modified organism-based therapies. I also believe that these options are well accepted among doctors and patients as well.”
In the early stages of our project, We also had conservation with Márton Bojtár, a chemist researching photoactivatable small molecules. From Him, we have learned that although these molecules are promising, they have a great disadvantage, namely solubility. With NanoBlade we were convinced that this problem can be solved in the field of optogenetic therapy. He also gave us advice in building the hardware parts as He uses devices like our design.
These interviews and conservation were much help to our project. They shaped our mindset and way of thinking into creating something simple yet effective system. We would like to thank Professor Kacskovics for giving us an insight into the state of our community, His words inspired us to create something useful and needed solution. As well as to Dr. David T Riglar for explaining to us the difficulties of bacterial therapeutic systems and to Professor Nyitray for His advice on inducible systems. To Dr. Patai, we are thankful for His insight into the current state and problems of Hungarian healthcare systems, and to Mr. Bojtár for guiding us in the field of optogenetics. Their comments were the ones that shaped our project design into NanoBlade.