The name we chose for our team is MUTANS, which stands for Multidisciplinary Unipd Team Applied for Natural Science. It’s not a simple acronym: mutans is the latin word for mutant, which in genetics indicates a organism that has one or several mutated genes. Mutations have been a fundamental event for the evolution of life on Earth and they still are the main way organisms adapt and improve their characteristics according to the environment they live in.
Ever since the beginning of civilization, human kind has selectively bred mutants of plants and animals that better met its needs. With today technologies and knowledge, we can study and introduce this type of mutations to cope with current global challenges, such as for example the research of biofuels, the adaptation of agriculture to new weather and soil conditions, the development of new therapies against cancer and alternative drugs to antibiotics.
As a teams of students that deals with life-science and, more specifically, with synthetic biology, we believe it is important to do our part in divulging right information about these technologies, including GMOs, which are often subject of concern and debating among the population. We notice as, especially in our Country, the fear of GMOs is very common, even though they will be one of the most important tools to use to deal with current issues, among which stands out the difficulty of producing enough food to feed the entire world population which is constantly growing in a planet that has less and less arable land.
It is not the strongest of the species that survives, nor the most intelligent. It is the one that is the most adaptable to change.
Charles Darwin