Microgrub Research Capture Sheet
Production Cost Research: Role Assignment
Directions
Assign each member of your group to one of the roles described below, and do a bit of research to understand what someone in that role might value.
1. Note the group’s assigned food item below.
2. Assign roles as described below.
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Role | Focus Questions | What would someone in this role value? | Group Member Assigned |
Environmentalist | What are the environmental impacts of producing this food? | | |
Food Scientist | What is the process used to create this food? What agency regulates the human health and safety impacts of this item? | | |
Financial Analyst | How large of a market is there for this food (what is the monetary value of the food)? | | |
NGO Worker | Where in the world is this food item produced? Where is it available for purchase? | | |
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1 | On the first day, research the traditional production costs of your food. | |
2 | On the second day, research the “microbe- influenced” production of your food item, and describe its costs. | |
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Microgrub Research Capture Sheet
Production Cost Research: Role Assignment
Directions
Research the production “cost” of your food according to the identified focus of an Environmentalist.
Focus Question | What are the environmental impacts of producing this food? |
Continues next page >
1 | On the first day, research the traditional production costs of your food. | |
2 | On the second day, research the “microbe- influenced” production of your food item, and describe its costs. | |
Enter response here.
Enter response here.
Microgrub Research Capture Sheet
Production Cost Research: Role Assignment
Directions
Research the production “cost” of your food according to the identified focus of an Environmentalist.
Focus Question | What is the process used to create this food? What agency regulates the human health and safety of this item |
Continues next page >
1 | On the first day, research the traditional production costs of your food. | |
2 | On the second day, research the “microbe- influenced” production of your food item, and describe its costs. | |
Enter response here.
Enter response here.
Microgrub Research Capture Sheet
Production Cost Research: Role Assignment
Directions
Research the production “cost” of your food according to the identified focus of an Environmentalist.
Focus Question | How large of a market is there for this food (what is the monetary value of the food)? |
Continues next page >
1 | On the first day, research the traditional production costs of your food. | |
2 | On the second day, research the “microbe- influenced” production of your food item, and describe its costs. | |
Enter response here.
Enter response here.
Microgrub Research Capture Sheet
Production Cost Research: Role Assignment
Directions
Research the production “cost” of your food according to the identified focus of an Environmentalist.
Continues next page >
Focus Question | Where in the world is this food item produced? Where is it available for purchase? |
| Environmentalist | Food Scientist | Financial Analyst | NGO Worker | Group |
Traditional Production | | | | | |
Microbe-Influenced Production | | | | | |
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Microgrub Research Capture Sheet
Production Cost Research: Group
Directions
As a group, compare the traditional vs. microbe-influenced production to determine which method is most efficient.
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| Environmental impact | Human health impact | Accessibility |
Traditional Production | | | |
Microbe-Influenced Production | | | |
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Microgrub Research Capture Sheet
Production Cost Research: Group
Continued
2. As a group, decide which type of food production
has a better impact on the environment, human health, and accessibility.
3. Whichever food production (traditional or microbe- influenced) has a higher cost, indicate below how that cost might be reduced without changing the way the food is produced.
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Synthetic Biology Article
Directions
Read and analyze the following article and answer the questions on the next page.
1. Read, highlight, and annotate the following article.
Synthetic Biology and Hunger | |
Synthetic biology has the potential to change the way our agriculture systems function, and to usher in a new era of equitable and sustainable nutrition. That is provided the biotech community becomes more aware of obstacles that could lead to greater food disparities. By working together, science, business, and public policy can create unconventional food technologies that can solve global hunger. Agriculture technology (ag-tech) is the combination of traditional farming and modern digital advances. Entrepreneurs need to understand that public policies can be a tremendous help or hindrance to their ag-tech startups if they let them. To ensure policy-makers are more helpful than harmful, entrepreneurs need to communicate through money. For example, with this mindset, entrepreneurs can explain the benefits and risks of deforestation in dollar values. They can also illustrate how their technology could reduce the need for deforestation by helping increase crop yields. Besides money, another communication roadblock that is often overlooked is the outdated and superior mentalities of scientists. The motivation to help others is not typically enough to advance sustainable solutions. Agricultural technologies, including modified seeds and precision farming, are already helping to increase crop yields and reduce resource needs, but new technology is not necessarily accessible to everybody. If implementing this technology requires training, developed nations would likely be in a better position to utilize it, leaving out less-equipped regions. Without effective policies, ag-tech could unintentionally worsen economic and social inequities instead of improving them. Governments can reduce these risks by removing money as a barrier to access to technologies. This is why, in some ways, it is easier and more efficient to create partnerships at the local level than to wait for government aid. Because of how rigid bureaucracies are, the time and effort it takes just to clear a patent application present huge hurdles for new entrepreneurs. Community acceptance is also a significant obstacle. The lack of trust from many farmers stems from a lack of knowledge and understanding about new techniques, since “new” does not always mean “better” to them. Even when the government creates policies to support farmers, many farmers are unwilling to accept them. Governments, startups, and financial institutions must put the interests of individuals and communities above net profit, despite the obvious human tendency to prioritize personal wealth. However, for the synthetic biology industry to fully accept its role in addressing global hunger, partnerships with investors who agree that socially-based business models are investable opportunities need to be created. | |
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Synthetic Biology Article
Continued
2. How can entrepreneurs in the ag-tech industry get the help of policymakers?
4. Where would new technology be most likely implemented? Why is this a problem?
3. What evidence would entrepreneurs in the ag-tech industry use to explain why their product is desirable to policymakers?
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Synthetic Biology Article
Continued
5. Why do we need effective policies?
6. Why is community acceptance important?
Microgrub Poster Checklist
Directions
Select one possible Micro-Con menu item that might contain the microbe-influenced food item you researched with the Microgrub Research Capture Sheet, and showcase it as a poster with the following information:
1 | Illustration of the food item containing microbe- influenced ingredients (for instance, vanilla ice cream made with biovanillin) |
2 | Nutritional information of menu item: calories, carbohydrates, fats and protein |
3 | Discussion of how the item is more or less environmentally friendly than traditional industry item |
4 | Brief discussion or illustration of the biological process used to create this item |
5 | Identification of the agency that regulates the production of this item |
6 | Comparison between the cost of the traditional method and the microbe-influenced method |
7 | Explanation of how this menu item will be accessible to a large audience, e.g., where this food will be sold beyond the “Microgrub Menu” |
Career Profile
Virology researcher, Research Fellow
and Diversity advocate
Chelsey Spriggs
Research Fellow at Tsai
Lab, Postdoc at
University of Michigan
What do you do and how did you get here?
I am a scientist at the University of Michigan where I study
how cancer-causing viruses get into cells to cause infection. I always loved science in school, but I had no idea that I could do science when I grew up! I worked in a research lab in college as a part of a degree requirement and learned about viruses and how they can cause cancer. Although I loved science, I thought that the only career options were doctor or veterinarian. I actually went to medical school, but was unhappy and made the difficult decision to leave and pursue biomedical research. My professor helped me to apply for graduate school and the rest is history! I will soon be starting my own lab studying how viruses cause cancer and how they can be used to treat cancer.
What skills do you use on a daily basis?
The skills that I use most are critical thinking and communication. In science, you come up with hypotheses to test and sometimes they work and sometimes they don’t. It’s VERY cool when they do work, but more often than not, you don’t get the result you expected. At that time, it is very important to think critically about what to do next and how to interpret your data. Doing this, you come up with another hypothesis to test and eventually, you get it right! Communication is also extremely important in my daily activities. I have to be able to clearly communicate my findings to others because science is meant to be shared.
What’s most fulfilling about your job/career?
What’s most challenging?
The most fulfilling part about my job is getting good data.
If I find something new, for a few minutes, I may be the
only person in the world that knows what I know! As a microbiologist, I study things too small to see, so figuring out how they work through science is gratifying. The most challenging thing about my job is that 75% of my experiments fail or do not reveal what I expected them to. At these moments it is important to persevere instead of giving up— eventually I get it right.
If you could give a piece of advice to your younger self, what would it be?
My advice to my younger self would be to follow your passion. Don’t do something because you think that is what is expected of you and don’t shy away from challenges because people say that it can’t be done. You can do what you put your mind to even if you have to be the first one to ever do it!
If you could have any superpower, what would it be?
I would love to be able to fly! Seeing the world from that vantage point would be so awesome... and I’ll never be stuck in traffic again!
What is your most used phone app?
My music app. I love listening to music that matches my mood. It can also help me to feel at peace or uplift my spirit. I am always playing music!