Class Assignment

1. First, describe a biological engineering application or tool you want to develop and why. This could be inspired by an idea for your HTGAA class project and/or something for which you are already doing in your research, or something you are just curious about.

   1. It is estimated that by 2050, the human population will reach 10 billion people. This increase will put global agroindustry under great stress and we have to come with more efficient production methods to ensure a proper global access to nutrition. This can be achieved by the use of GMO crops that can cope better with biotic and abiotic stresses. One of the of the most important abiotic stresses are the late frosts, that occur in the periods close to emergence from dormancy and produce great damages in different fruit trees. A possible aproach to diminish the damage produced by the late frosts is the use of GMO fruit trees that posses improved antifreeze protein production.

   

2. Next, describe one or more governance/policy goals related to ensuring that this application or tool contributes to an "ethical" future, like ensuring non-malfeasance (preventing harm). Break big goals down into two or more specific sub-goals. Below is one example framework (developed in the context of synthetic genomics) you can choose to use or adapt, or you can develop your own. The example was developed to consider policy goals of ensuring safety and security, alongside other goals, like promoting constructive uses, but you could propose other goals for example, those relating to equity or autonomy.

   1. Biosecurity
      1. Consumers Biosecurity
      2. Enviromental Biosecurity
   2. Commercialization
      1. Consumer adoption
      2. Approval by foreign markets
   3. Availability
      1. Producer access to seeds
      2. Access to plant information by the consumer

3. Next, describe at least three different potential governance "actions" by considering the four aspects below (Purpose, Design, Assumptions, Risks of Failure & “Success”). Try to outline a mix of actions (e.g. a new requirement/rule, incentive, or technical strategy) pursued by different "actors" (e.g. academic researchers, companies, federal regulators, law enforcement, etc). Draw upon your existing knowledge and a little additional digging, and feel free to use analogies to other domains (e.g. 3D printing, drones, financial systems, etc.).

   • Purpose: What is done now and what changes are you proposing?
   • Design: What is needed to make it “work”? (including the actor(s) involved - who must opt-in, fund, approve, or implement, etc)
   • Assumptions: What could you have wrong (incorrect assumptions, uncertainties)?
   • Risks of Failure & “Success”: How might this fail, including any unintended consequences of the “success” of your proposed actions?

• Action 1: Regulatory approval by goberment and public actors
• Action 2: Consumer education
• Action 3: Communication with international regulatory authorities and actors

1. Next, score (from 1-3 with, 1 as the best, or n/a) each of your governance actions against your rubric of policy goals. The following is one framework but feel free to make your own:

1. Last, drawing upon this scoring, describe which governance option, or combination of options, you would prioritize, and why. Outline any trade-offs you considered as well as assumptions and uncertainties. For this, you can choose one or more relevant audiences for your recommendation, which could range from the very local (e.g. to MIT leadership or Cambridge Mayoral Office) to the national (e.g. to President Biden or the head of a Federal Agency) to the international (e.g. to the United Nations Office of the Secretary-General, or the leadership of a multinational firm or industry consortia). These could also be one of the “actor” groups in your matrix.
   1. I propose a first step where interaction with national NGOs and domestic approval for production and consume are prioritized. A favorable experience in domestic production and consumer adoption could serve as input for negotiations with external markets. Once it is proved that the product has a history of safe use, hasn´t damaged the enviroment and has been succesfully accepted by consumers; the communication with international actor should begin.