Sustainable Development Impact
Now more than ever, it's crucial to make sure society develops sustainably, which is why the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development was adopted by all United Nations Member States in 2015. In this agenda, 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDG) were proposed to help combat the world's most urgent issues, like work hunger and climate change. Because of the urgent character to comply with these goals, we decided to participate in IGEM’s program “BYLP” (Biodiversity Youth Leadership Program”, which also covers UN’s SDGs. Our current team leader, Claudia Valdés, is an active delegate in the program, working towards COP15. In this program we participated in workshops around science diplomacy and how to share the youth’s perspective on biodiversity loss. We linked this program directly to our project by analyzing how agricultural practices affect biodiversity. We also used the knowledge acquired around science diplomacy to carefully develop this sustainable development section, take SDGs into account when developing the project, and bring our perspective back to BYLP
Thanks to everything we learned through this course and by researching on their own, we designed BerryVax around the Sustainable Development Goals, paying special attention to the following ones:
SDG #2: Zero Hunge
When working in the agronomical field in our project, it’s impossible to ignore the current food security problem in the world. Food security not only implies having access to enough food, but also includes the quality and variety of said food in order to lead a healthy lifestyle (O’Neill, 2021). By using BerryVax in berry fields, fruit quality will be improved and thanks to the overproduction of surfactin (Salehi et al., 2010; Coutte et al., 2015). It’s important to mention that thanks to the use of our biocontrol solution, added value will be added to the product while also making berry crops more sustainable (target 2.3 and 2.4).
Moreover, since BerryVax will help better the plant’s defense system and protect itself from fungal pests, berry production should have an increase. You can learn more about how this can be achieved by visiting our Implementation site
SDG #3: Good health and well-being
Berries are not only known for being delicious, but also for being a great vitamins, minerals, and disease-fighting nutrients source. It was also found that the consumption of this type of fruits can reduce the risk of acquiring Diabetes Type Two, suffering heart attacks amongst other health advantages (Harvard, 2021). By helping improve the production of these fruits, they will be more accessible to the general public, who will be able to enjoy these benefits.
The implementation of Berry-Vax will also help reduce the use of agrochemicals that contain hazardous chemicals that can affect the health of field workers, biodiversity and consumers, which will hopefully reduce the number of deaths and illnesses caused by these (target 3.9).
SDG #4: Quality education
It’s no secret that all over the world indigenous people tend to have less access to a lot of educational material, a lot of it because of language barriers. However, there’s also a big lack of information about indigenous knowledge and their cosmovision regarding the care of the land in the general public. Taking this into account, with the help of Emiliano Mejíaz Bautista and Hayuaneme García Mijares, members of the Wixárika community, as well as Iván Carrillo Perezcano, our illustrator, we created “Tatei niukieya: The story of Mother Earth”, an illustrated book available in English, Spanish and Wixárika. This way, cultural diversity and a culture of peace and sustainability are promoted (target 4.7).
Adding to this, we developed SYN Sentido, a podcast where we talk about iGEM, science and Synthetic Biology in a friendly manner. We also hosted two different talks about iGEM and Synthetic Biology for High School students who were interested in joining the university (target 4.3). Finally, we joined team Synthetic Biobotsto give a free webinar titled “Waste management for sustainable experimentation”., helping ensure that knowledge necessary for achieving sustainable development is obtained (target 4.7). To know more about our work on communication (https://2022.igem.wiki/itesoguadalajara/communication) and education (https://2022.igem.wiki/iteso-guadalajara/education)., click here.
SDG #8: Decent work and economic growth
The berry sector in our country has grown 21.8% from 2003 to 2016 and the importance of these fruits in Mexico keeps on increasing (Lagunes-Fortiz et al., 2020). Our solution will help achieve higher levels of economic productivity by reducing water waste and plant losses caused by fungi with technological upgrading (target 8.2). Also, without the need of agrochemical products, a safe and secure working environment will be achieved (target 8.8).
SDG #12: Responsible consumption and production
BerryVax will help achieve a more sustainable management and use of the natural resources (target 12.2) by reducing waste in berry crops caused by fungal pests which can be diminished with the use of our phytovaccine (target 12.3). Also, by taking the place of agrochemicals, their release to air, water and soil will be minimized (target 12.4). Finally, by getting our solution into the market and ensuring its effectiveness, both agronomical companies and local producers will hopefully be encouraged to adopt more sustainable practices since it will be convinient to them (target 12.6).
References
Coutte, F., Niehren, J., Dhali, D., John, M., Versari, C., & Jacques, P. (2015). Modeling leucine’s metabolic pathway and knockout prediction improving the production of surfactin, a biosurfactant from Bacillus subtilis. Biotechnology Journal, 10(8), 1216–1234. https://doi.org/10.1002/biot.201400541
Harvard T.H. Chan (2021). Berries are amongst the healthiest foods you can eat. Retrieved from: https://www.hsph.harvard.edu/news/hsph-in-the-news/fresh-berries-are-among-the-healthiestfoods-you-can-eat/
Lagunes-Fortiz, E., Lagunes-Fortiz E., Hómez-Gómez, A., Leos-Rodríguez, J., and Omaña-Silvestre, J. (2020). Competitividad y rentabilidad de la producción de frutillas en Jalisco. Revista Mexicana Ciencias Agrícolas, 11(8). 18
O’Neill, T. (2021). Food Insecurity and Food Insufficiency: Assessing Causes and Historical Trends. Retrieved from: https://www.americanactionforum.org/research/food-insecurity-and-foodinsufficiency-assessing-causes-and-historical-trends/#ixzz7hH0V1D4v
Salehi, M., Johnson, S.J. & Liang, JT. (2010). Enhanced Wettability Alteration by Surfactants with Multiple Hydrophilic Moieties. J Surfact Deterg 13, 243–246. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11743-010-1193-8
The Danish Institute for Human Rights. (n.d.) Goals, targets and indicators. Retrieved from: https://sdg.humanrights.dk/en/goals-and-targets?page=3