Sustainable Development Goals

Contents

Overview

This year, our project, nuCloud, seeks to showcase the potential of DNA storage through an innovative biomanufacturing platform. Our proof-of-concept focuses on sustainability by utilizing enzymatic synthesis and affordable, accessible hardware. From benchtop to data center, nuCloud explores how DNA storage can support the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Specifically, our project aligns with SDGs 13, 12, 9, 8, and 4, as discussed below.

SDG 13: Climate action

SDG 13, climate action, urges nations to take action combat climate change and its impacts. Strategies provided for combating climate change include offsetting carbon emissions and finding ways to conserve and reuse natural resources. Our project aims to address the sustainability differences between traditional data storing techniques vs. DNA data storing techniques. Additionally, our implementation focuses on showing how nuCloud can potentially lower the amount of carbon emissions produced by current data centers as well as conserving the amount of electricity and water used when storing data.

Problem Identifications

Current data storage methods and data centers have significant impacts on the environment through greenhouse gas emissions, the occupation of vast amounts of land mass, and energy requirements to ensure the cooling of the servers is maintained1. As we continue to generate more and more data, datacentres are unable to match the exponential growth with a sustainable manner2.

On the other hand, our team thought, how can we use nature’s solution to information storage, to store other forms of data, such as pictures and text? While DNA datacentres are still a conceptual idea, they are shown to use less energy, land and water then tradditional datacentres3. While datacentre’s will always need to occupy land and consume resources, how can this be done more sustainably? This is the question that nuCloud tries to address, first by demonstrating synthesis of DNA using ThTdT, and with our hardware projects.

We further discuss in Implementation and Entrepreneurship, the challenges and path for scaling up, but it is no secret that tradditional datacentres will need to be innovated, either with storage mediums like DNA or elsewise, to meet the exponetial growth of information humanity is expected to generate.

Problem 1: Energy and Water Consumption of Tradditional Data Centres

There are 10,978 data centers in the world, the bulk of it being in the USA4, with the USA housing 5,381, around half of all data centers. These centers consume vast amounts of electricity and water, unfortunately, in exchange they provide very few human jobs required for operation 4. Despite many of these centers being located in areas that are susceptible to drought, on average each data center uses about 300,000 gallons of water a day to keep its systems cool. In fact, “Data centers heavy reliance on water scarce basins to supply their direct and indirect water requirements not only highlight the industry’s role in local water scarcity, but also exposes potential risk since water stress is expected to increase in many watersheds due to increases in water demands and more intense, prolonged droughts due to climate change”5. This means anywhere from 3 million, to five million gallons of water a day is required just in the USA to keep data centers running 4. This is roughly equivalent to the amount of water used daily in 1,000 homes or enough for anywhere from 30,000-50,000 people.

The main sources of water consumption include cooling, indirectly when generating electricity and indirectly through electricity consumption and wastewater utilities 5. While data centers range in sizes and rate of access, “a medium-sized data centre (15 megawatts (MW)) uses as much water as three average-sized hospitals, or more than two 18-hole golf courses.”6. Not only do data centers use alot of water, but a major source of energy use is due to coolign all this water6. With all this in mind, data centers in the USA collectively use water from 90% of watersheds, and are a top ten industrial user of water 5. Again, because datacenters are located in areas with less human inhabitance, such as locations that don’t recieve much rainfail, their reliy on watersheds “experiencing greater water scarcity than average.”5.

Data centers use a massive amount of energy every day to function. The amount of power needed to run data centers on a global scale, amounts to 416 terawatts, or approximately 3% of all electricity generated on Earth7. An average data center can consume the equivalent electricity of 50,000 homes8, with largest data centers requiring over 100MW of power, which is enough to power approximately 80,000 households. As more and more data is collected, the amount of energy used is expected to increase exponentially. This is highly concerning and unsustainable for the future as energy consumption by data centers worldwide is expected to double every four years7.

Problem 2: Data Centre Green House Gas Emissions and Harzardous Chemicals

Data centers require many different sources of non-renewable resources, such as refrigerants (for cooling systems), diesel (for backup electricity), and natural gas (for heating and fueling cells). Data centers located in areas that do not allow free cooling require coolant for computer room air conditioning (CRAC) units. Coolants are often chlorofluorocarbons (CFCs), halocarbons, or Freon9. These chemicals are mild to highly toxic, and their continuous use can cause ozone depletion9. The total green house gas emissions contributed by data centers in 2018 was 3.15 × 107 tons CO2-eq, around 0.5% of all GHG emissionsin the USA; this is largely attributing to treating wastewater 5.

Per year, a data center can be expected to consume 46.33 kWh per TB of data, roughly translating to “approximately 35 kg of CO2 emissions per TB”10. In 2022, worldwide, over “76 million metric tons of CO2 ” was emitted, and even with advanced technological advances, this number will reach 259 million metric tons of CO210.

Long Term Social, Environmental, and Economic Impacts

Currently data centers from small to large size require between $2.3-38.3 millions to just build the infrastructure, but require even more to support the land cost and energy costs 11. Although with current technology, DNA storage is very expensive with ~15 USD per terabyte, we are working towards creating a more cost-effective approach to DNA storage technology that will in turn, result in less long-term costs as DNA storage is stable at room temperature 12. Our proof of concept hopes to one day provide a way for data centres to require less energy and resources, and to occupy much less land due to the smaller size of the product.

Solution to Problem 1

Our project, nuCloud, utilizes the fact that DNA can be stored using relatively environmentally friendly resources 13. This fact directly addresses SDG 13, specifically target 13.2, integrating climate change measures into national policies, strategies and planning. Problem one indicates that traditional data centers operate using large quantities of electricity and water. Theoretically, DNA can be stored using far smaller amounts of these resources leading to an overall reduction in the environmental damage caused by data centers 13. The implementation of nuCloud would directly promote the importance of climate action and provide strategies for conserving resources in the biotechnology field.

Solution to Problem 2

As noted above, the green house gas emissions are due to cooling the equipment, such as servers and computers, in the data center. However, with a theoretical esitmate that DNA will be 106 times denser then current storage mediums3, then more information can be stored and maintained, for the same piece of land. Of course, reading and writing DNA requires it’s own set of equipment, such as bioreactors for producing TdT, high-throughout automated microfluidic chips for synthesizing DNA and sequencing machines. While these machines will also take up land and energy useage, the storage of DNA will theoretically require less energy, since natural samples of DNA have been found to be recovered from around 400000 years14, the actual stability of DNA for data storage will be less; however, this stands to show that DNA can persist in conditions that are not always maintained in low temperatures and dry atmosphere. For instance, when DNA is dehydrated or stored in silica, it can be stored as room temperature14.

Feedback from Relevant Stakeholder

We spoke to Rashmi Prakash, an adjunct professor at UBC’s school of Biomedical Engineering and the CEO of Aruna Revolution, where she works with her team to create compostable menstrual pads made of natural fibers. We wanted to promote discussion about the UN SDG’s and how her experience towards achieving the SDG’s in an engineering context. Since our team was similarly building up a biomanufacturing platform, which requires applying engineering to science we thougth to ask Rashmi about why she put sustainability at the forefront of her company, and the challanges she faced. Some of the main takeaways from the podcast are that people are often desensitized from climate change issues due to the sheer density of information being shared which causes disinterest, we need to be cautious of our approach to the products we’re providing, and we need to keep socioeconomic factors in mind when evaluating who is impacted by our project.

First, in order to get people to care about climate impacts without desensitizing them, we need to keep in mind that responsible consumption comes after responsible manufacturing. Second, we need to ask ourselves “do we need to be making this right now?” while developing a product to ensure that all parts of a product we are creating are required for use, and not extra pieces that may become waste. Using reusable tools and inputs in our circuits are additional ways in which we can strive for improved environmentally conscious practices while working on our project. Finally, she mentioned that socioeconomic factors impact how our project will be received to the public as DNA technology is only available to those in big universities and companies, thus there is a large issue with accessibility. Additionally, many minority groups have to sacrifice when large data centers and initiatives occur, so keeping in mind both the emotional and physical impacts of our project will help create an effective method of spreading awareness to climate action initiatives.

You can listen to our podcast with Rashmi below.

Positive/Negative Interactions with Other SDGs

Developing sustainable buildings and infrastructure for DNA storage will positively impact SDGs 4, 12, 9, and 8. New technologies will bring in a host of economic growth, and garner interest in the younger population. Furthermore, moving away from tradditional data centres and towards DNA will reduce the harzardous chemicals used, such as the coolants mentioned above. Finally, when moving towards more sustainable processes, the buildings and infrastructure that house these greener processes will also be less energy and water hungry.

However, innovation comes frequently to developed nations, and not as often, or not at all to less-developed countries. Thus, investing time and money into building sustainable data centers in wealthy countries like the USA while leaving other countries with decodes old technology means there may be negative interactions with SDG 9, which also aims to build sustainable solutions for all nations. Sequencing machines and high-throughput automation platforms are frequently in the hundreds of thousands of dollars, which is not an accesible technology to many.

SDG 12: Responsible Consumption and Production

Responsible Consumption and Production relates to reducing our material footprint by reducing, reusing or recycling. Additionally, focus on generating less waste by adopting greener processes falls under this SDG. Our project is focused on biomanufacturing DNA using enzymes and hardware, aiming to provide greener processes to traditional methods. Our implementation of this goal is our analysis of the enzymatic vs. chemical DNA synthesis, and how the inputs and outputs to enzymatic DNA synthesis are a more responsible methodology, and how our proof-of-concept demonstrates this.

Problem Identifications

DNA storage has emerged as a promising “greener” alternative to traditional data centers. While hard drives, SSDs, and tape storage require replacement every few years, DNA offers a more durable solution. Moreover, the equipment needed for reading and writing conventional storage devices, such as servers and computers, also demands frequent updates. In contrast, DNA storage theoretically requires less frequent rewriting, potentially slowing the deterioration rate of associated equipment.

Our hardware proof-of-concept demonstrates some of the necessary equipment for DNA storage, and we explore responsible production methods later in this discussion. However, more comprehensive analysis is needed to fully understand the long-term implications of DNA sequencing and synthesis equipment.

As a biopolymer, DNA presents the potential for developing synthesis as a cradle-to-cradle process. While the DNA molecule itself is inherently greener than SSDs or tape, there’s room for improvement in the synthesis process. For instance, the most common method—phosphoramidite DNA synthesis—is a chemical process that relies on energy-intensive reagents and produces toxic waste.

Our proof-of-concept life cycle analysis examines both chemical and enzymatic synthesis, outlining the inputs and outputs for each process. This analysis aims to provide a clearer picture of the environmental impact and potential improvements in DNA synthesis methods.

Problem 1: Traditional Data Centres Generate Toxic Waste

Generally servers have to be replaced every 3-5 years. Disposing of the old servers and other electronic equipment improperly can lead to toxic heavy metals from the equipment contaminating ground water and polluting soil. The most common sources of e-waste created by data centers include racks, computing equipment, monitors, circuits and any other electrical components within the infrastructure. Due to the accelerating rate of data, more and more electronic equipment is thrown out every year in favour of new high tech equipment. In fact, e-waste overall accounts for 2% of solid waste and 70% of toxic waste world wide15. Even more detrimental, is that only about 20% of data centres recycle their e-waste properly16. E-waste is especially dangerous because it is non-biodegradable and damages plants and animals by contaminating water and soil. It can also affect air quality. These toxic and harmful chemicals include “arsenic, cadmium, lead, mercury, nickel, plastics and flame retardants”17.

Problem 2: Chemical DNA Synthesis Generates Toxic Waste

DNA synthesis has been traditionally done with chemicals, such as argon gas, acetonitrile, dichloromethane, and THF to name a few[^dnasyn]. All these chemicals are hazardous to the environment, and have specialized waste protocols, as noted in Green Chemistry. These waste processes require energy, and if improperly disposed of, can be detrimental to the environment. Procuring these harzardous and toxic chemicals in the first place requires specialized personnel to transfer and store these chemicals. Then, when synthesizing DNA chemically, since argon gas must be used in multiple steps, and because many chemicals are detrimental to human health, they require highly specialized experimental setups and engineering controls like a fumehood to prevent contamination. Finally, disposal of organic solvents is also a highly skilled and specialized process, typically requiring licensed waste handlers. Thus, chemical DNA synthesis’ use of toxic reagents poses hazards during procurement, usage and disposal.

Problem 3: Traditional Benchtop Experimental Processes Require Consumables

Traditional benchtop wet lab requires many consumables. In chemistry, glass is commonly used, and can be washed and reused. However, in microbiology this plastic petri dishes and plastic micropipette tips are used, and disposed of after one-time use. This use of these consumables is a necessary evil, if wet lab is done in a benchtop fashion, but even worse so for fields that use plastic, such as microbiology. Dealing with this plastic waste is also energy intensive, as waste must be autoclaved before being disposed. Our team has collected our plastic usage throughout the season, which ca be seen here, and CSV data here and here.

Problem 4: Replacement of SSDs, HDDs, Tapes

Finally, when storing information on SSDs, HDDs and tape, the data must be rewritten multiple times for redundancy sake. CERN, the largest particle physics laboratory in the world, has been equipped to store 1000 pettabytes of information on disk storage since 201318. Data stored on disk for long-term storage is written twice; for CERN to store around 130 pettabytes of information on disk, 270 pettabytes worth of disk must be used to ensure data safety19. In 2017, CERN surpassd 200 petabytes of archival data stored on tape20. By the end of 2018, a staggering 330 petabytes of data were permanently archived on tape19.

Furthermore, SSDs have a lifetime of around 10 years, whereas HDDs, have a lifetime of around 3-5 years, and thus must be replaced before their lifetime runs out, which would result in data loss21. The old HDDs and SSDs are then tossed, resulting in problem 1.

Long Term Social, Environmental, and Economic Impacts

DNA storage is uniquely posed to store archival data. This may change social behaviours towards DNA as being a scary biomolecule, when at its core it just stores information, which in different environments DNA molecules may act maliciously. With education on DNA and information theory, it may change and elucidate the processes in data storage in both our body and datacentres.

Furthermore, DNA storage impacts the environment and economy in long term ways. Firstly, given that DNA datacenters are theoretically greener than traditional datacenters3, their implementation and eventual adoption by sections like industry, academia and government, this should help work towards SDG 13. Furthermore, economically, we will need an interdisciplinary trained workforce, in areas such as synthetic biology, chemistry, computer science, microbiology and engineering. This will impact SDGs 4 and 8, as an interdisciplinary workforce will encourage different forms of education that cross different domains.

Solution to Problem 1

Our project, nuCloud, leverages enzymatic DNA synthesis, a process that significantly reduces the need for toxic chemicals by relying on biological entities. This approach directly contributes to achieving SDG, particularly targets 12.2 and 12.5. As illustrated in our proof-of-concept life cycle analysis, enzymatic DNA synthesis offers a more environmentally friendly alternative to traditional methods. The inputs and outputs of this process can be managed through simpler, less harmful disposal methods. Thus, nuCloud not only advances data storage technology but also promotes sustainable practices in the field of biotechnology and information management.

Solution to Problem 2

Our project aligns with key principles of green chemistry, particularly the use of catalysis and the reduction or elimination of toxic reagents. This approach directly contributes to SDG 12, specifically targeting sustainable consumption and production patterns through targets 12.2 and 12.4. Our proof-of-concept wet lab results and life cycle analysis demonstrate the advantages of enzymatic synthesis in this context. The process utilizes reagents that are less toxic, or even non-toxic, significantly reducing environmental impact. Furthermore, the waste products from this process can be safely disposed of through standard methods - either in regular trash after autoclaving or directly down the sink (after processing with bleach), depending on the specific components, which is detailed in Green Chemistry. This makes our proof-of-concept platform a tangible contribution to fulfilling SDG 12, promoting responsible consumption and production in the field of DNA synthesis and data storage.

Solution to Problem 3

Our proof-of-concept hardware for enzymatic DNA synthesis targets 12.5, by producing engineering solutions to automate and reduce waste. First, to continuously produce TdT, we built a low-cost bioreactor from commonly used lab equipment like pipettes. The bioreactor creates a more oxygenated environment for the bacteria, and can be autoclaved for continual usage. Furthermore, we have designed liquid phase and solid phase microfluidic chips, which allow us to continuously mix reagents, and can lead to the eventual automation of the entire DNA synthesis process. We have documented the wet lab team’s plastic usage, and in our Green Engineering page, we should how much plastic the bioreactor and chips use.

Solution to Problem 4

Effectively storing DNA for many years has not been proven by us, however since DNA can be recovered from many millennia, there is potential for DNA to not only outlast current archival storage mediums, but more research must be done to demonstrate information can persist on DNA. If this can be done, then DNA can outlast SSDs, HDDs for centuries, and become the de facto storage medium for archival data.

Feedback from Relevant Stakeholder

We were able to discuss sustainable product development and marketing with Rashmi Prakesh, a professor at UBC SBME, and CEO of Aruna Revolution (compostable menstrual pads made of natural fibres). One point we discussed with Rashmi was the difficulties in getting a general audience to understand the effects of long-term issues like global warming (for our case), or toxic chemical poisoning (in the case of menstrual pads). Both processes are things we do without thinking twice, and the detrimental effects of both don’t set in until it is too late. Additionally, more sustainable products or services are frequently less user friendly or more expensive than their more conventional/less sustainable counterparts. There is no question that synthetic fibre based menstrual pads are cheaper than natural fibre based menstrual pads. Additionally, DNA storage is currently much slower to read, and has higher rates of error. With these concerns in mind, we were concerned about the difficulties in convincing a general audience to switch to using DNA storage, or understand the implications of traditional data centres. For instance, people frequently store years old emails and photos, to only access them once every year; would it be possible if they had to wait a few hours to access that information? Rashmi mentioned to us that those who are already sustainably-conscious would understand and switch to DNA storage. For the audience that is still not convinced, Rashmi mentioned even though our proof-of-concept was far from matching traditional data centres with SSDs/HDDs, our proof-of-concept was a stepping stone to demonstrate that greener ways of data storage exist, and that eventually, researchers may develop a DNA storage system that matches today’s data centres; the most important thing is that we demonstrated the implementation of a greener storage system in the first place.

Secondly, we were also able to discuss with Prof. Dr. Karin Strauss, who mentioned that there is still a lot of research to do in developing a DNA datacentre. When asked whether to invest in enzymatic DNA synthesis or phosphoramidite chemical DNA synthesis, Dr. Strauss expressed an opinion towards enzymatic DNA synthesis. There is also need to explore storage options, which DNA can be stored in Dr. Strauss also mentioned research in “left-handed DNA, and enzymatic system to safeguard against biological contamination and degradation”, which would require less reagents/engineering to maintain DNA. Additionally, Dr. Strauss mentioned that the “extra” equipment needed for read, writing and other tasks of running a datacentre need to be compared, and potentially improved to reach SDG12.

Positive/Negative Interactions with Other SDGs

A negative interaction is that making and storing enzymes requires specialized resources, equipment and trained personnel. This affects SDG 9, specifically targets 9.a, 9.b, 9.1, which focus on developing sustainable processes in developing countries. This is an issue we realized when talking with Rashmi Prakesh, where sustainable processes that required hard to access equipment or specialized training weren’t accessible, and accessible access to required resources is needed before a sustainable process can be implemented everywhere.

However, investing resources into research programs to develop more efficient synthesis or sequencing methods could positively affect SDG 4 and 9, since the enzyme required for DNA synthesis cannot be used in its WT form; thus knowledge of synthetic biology will be required to develop a DNA storage platform. Additionally, as we have been claiming, enzymatic synthesis poses to be the less hazardous method for synthesizing DNA; and preliminary research claims DNA datacentres requires less energy than traditional data centers, this also positively impacts SDG 13.

SDG 9: Industry, Innovation, Infrastructure

Industry, Innovation, Infrastructure is about creating industrial solutions that are sustainable and inclusive, to foster innovation, in every sector. Specifically, our project is related to this SDG since scaling up DNA storage to match the data centres that exists today requires advances in scientific research and infrastructure. Our implementation of this goal is encapsulated in our Implementation page, and analysis of both chemical and enzymatic synthesis.

How Our Project Applies

Transistors are important for the operation of electronic systems, such as solid-state drives (SSDs) and hard disk drives (HDDs). To design more complex circuits and then run them faster, chips require more transistors per unit area. This means the number of transistors must get smaller and smaller, an observation highlighted by Moore’s Law22. However, due to quantum mechanical complications, transistors can no longer get smaller.

This has overarching effects on anything that relies on electronic circuits, such as data centres, and the infrastructure that houses and reads and writes data to these storage units. Data centres are already being affected, as “Tape, HDD, and NAND, and Optical technologies are no longer achieving the cost benefits from bit cell scaling relative to Moore’s law expectations.”23. Thus, there is a dire need to research alternative methods of storage. One of these alternative methods includes DNA storage. Due to the density and stability of DNA, DNA is well suited for long-term glacial storage.

Our project, nuCloud, a DNA storage platform, demonstrates the application of DNA as a storage method, requiring upgraded infrastructure, retrofit industries and training professionals in multidisciplinary fields such as engineering, biology and computer science.

nuCloud plans to impact SDG 9 in the following way:

Long Term Social, Environmental, and Economic Impact

nuCloud’s sustainability comes from its use of TdT, which allows us to enzymatically synthesize DNA strands. Both DNA storage and use of a biological catalyst means the implementation and scale-up of nuCloud requires, which is line with target 9.4, which discusses the need to “upgrade infrastructure and retrofit industries to make them sustainable”. DNA data centres will require automated synthesis, storage and sequencing to be on par with the automation present in current SSD, tape and HDD based data centres. Of course, this will only be possible with guidance from life science researchers, which will encourage along-term partnerships to develop between research and industry. This aligns with target 9.5, which mentions the need to “enhance scientific research, upgrade the technological capabilities of industrial sectors in all countries” … “encouraging innovation and substantially increasing the number of research and development workers”. Short-term, our proof-of-concept contributes socially demonstrating the possibility of DNA based storage, and the potential to automate this process using commonly found lab equipment such as pipette tips and flasks. Long-term, the implementation of nuCloud on our Implementation page demonstrates the increased sustainability of a DNA datacenter, highlighted in the need for less area and less energy to store DNA, and economically, the implementation of a DNA datacentre requires professionals and researchers from multiple domains.

Positive/Negative Interactions with Other SDGs

Potentially negative interactions within SDG 9 include the inaccessibly of sequencing machines and automation equipment such as robotic arms, which impacts targets such as 9.a, 9.b, 9.1, which involves developing reliable and sustainable infrastructure in developing countries. As DNA sequencing becomes cheaper, this may bring the technology to developing countries, but this will require researchers and engineers to discover ways to make sequencing technology cheaper.

Potentially positive interactions with other SDGs include #12, and #13, Responsible Consumption and Production; Climate Action. For instance, because enzymatic DNA synthesis uses aqueous reagents that are less toxic then chemical DNA synthesis (such as acetonitrile), consumption of less toxic chemicals contributes to #12. Furthermore, our hardware components, such as bioreactor and microfluidic chips, designed to scale-up and automate the process of bacteria culturing and DNA synthesis further reduce the amount of consumables traditionally needed to perform these processed on benchtop. Additionally, because of acetonitrile’s carbon footprint being so drastic, removing acetonitrile as a required reagent contributes to #13. The need for upgraded infrastructure, will also be greener and contribute to SDG #13.

Feedback from Relevant Stakeholders

We were able to get feedback from Nikita Telkar, who emphasized key points in relation to providing a new product. First off, product adoption, which refers to “how many people using a similar product do you estimate would switch over to using to your product”. nuCloud could be adopted by anyone that already uses long-term storage, like Amazon S3 Glacier, if the user-experience remains very similar. For this to happen, hardware tools, like a bioreactor and microfluidic chip are required to scale-up and automate DNA synthesis. Furthermore, upgraded infrastructure capable of parallel synthesis, sequencing and automated storage and retrieval of DNA would make the user experience similar to currently existing long-term storage solutions, and drive the rate of the product adoption. Secondly, product stickiness, which refers to “once they have switched, how many will keep buying your product (and not switch back to their old one, or another new one)”. Again, given that automation is able to smoothly close the loop between storing binary information and retrieving that information without the user even realizing the implementation details under the hood, then the likeliness a customer remains with nuCloud will be higher. Our biomanufacturing platform, and emphasis on hardware, demonstrates with with a proof-of-concept the starting steps to fully automating DNA synthesis.

We were also fortunate enough to ask some questions to Prof. Dr. Karin Strauss, in relation to SDG 9. We asked Prof. Dr. Strauss that since DNA’s extremely high data density will reduce the total data-center infrastructure needed to meet customer demand, E3 to E7 denser than the next best storage medium, whether this reduction could be seen in archival datacentres. Prof. Dr. Strauss mentioned that while on the storage portion this reduction would be seen (the “amount” of DNA needed to store some amount of information), analysis on read and write technology would need to be done to then estimate the effect on archival datacenters. Our nuCloud proof-of-concept specifically focussed on a bioreactor for producing more bacteria then traditional benchtop cloning, and microfluidic chips, which can be automated and perform mixing in parallel, as concepts for hardware to automate enzymatic synthesis. However, for this technology to be utilized, employment of researchers in these novel areas of experiment automation is required for full automation of TdT production and DNA synthesis. Prof. Dr. Strauss also mentioned to refer to the DNA Data Storage Alliance for more information on the state of technology related to DNA storage. The DNA Data Storage Alliances claims that DNA meets the needs of growing storage demand, but upgraded infrastructure and experts will be needed to truly realize DNA storage, robustly and sustainability as a competing long-term archival data storage method24. With the realization of DNA based storage, this could drive innovation not only in DNA storage, but in digital preservation, genomics/omics, and more.

SDG 4: Quality Education

SDG 4 is as stated “ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all”. In order to pursue this goal, our team reached out to organizations such as the C.O.D.E. initiative, Genome BC, Science 101 and Let’s Talk Science to promote and teach synthetic biology ideas to new audiences. Additionally, we created our own initiative called Simply Synbio with a goal to publish simplified summaries of synthetic biology research papers and provide a way bridge the gap between synthetic biology findings to the general public.

Problem Identifications

There are two main problems that we sought to tackle with our education initiatives:

  1. Synthetic biology courses are only available for a select population, but it is a highly relevant topic for everyone
  2. There are some misconceptions in the general public about the use of genetically modified organisms and the technology used

Problem 1

Courses and resources on synthetic biology are only available to students in universities with faculties such as the School of Biomedical Engineering, and those working in labs or design teams directly related to synthetic biology. Synthetic biology is extremely relevant to all of science as it involves engineering organisms with implications healthcare, the environment and many other fields that are actively evolving as technology advances in science. However, synthetic biology is not part of the current BC curriculum 25 and there are limited educational resources available to the general public.

Problem 2

There is a lot of debate about the benefits and risks of genetically modified organisms. There any many misconceptions as well as myths regarding their safety and ethics.

Long Term Social, Environmental, and Economic Impacts

Through running agar design plate workshops with the C.O.D.E. initiative, developing hands-on workshops that involve synthetic biology for Let’s Talk Science, running a “design your own plasmid” activity with Science 101, and performing a “design your own mRNA vaccine” activity with GeneSkool, we have developed new activities and forged future relationships with these initiatives that will help students curious about synthetic biology from all ages to learn through our workshops going forward. With our Simply Synbio initiative, members of the team each read a scientific paper and simplified the results in a manner at which the general public could easily understand the material presented. The analysis and break down of these articles will remain on the iGEM website and help aid anyone curious about scientific findings within synthetic biology without the need of having prior experiences reading published papers.

Within our Science 101, Let’s Talk Science and GeneSkool workshops, we promoted the importance of synthetic biology in environmental sustainability in regards to how genetically modified bacteria can help create better nutrients for crops, reduce the need for industrial fertilizers, create more sustainable biosensors in the soil and other important issues that can be tacked through synthetic biology. We emphasized the importance of these environmental impacts as we strive to make our science practices more environmentally conscious through our practices and teachings of staying conscious of our plastic and waste produced as mentioned in SDG13, to share ensure future, and present generations of scientists’ work helps strive to preserve earth’s natural resources and the environment for future generations.

Solution to Problem 1

We created our workshops with GeneSkool, Science 101, the C.O.D.E initiative and Let’s Talk Science to allow those in high school, and adults out of university education to have access to a free resource that allow them to learn more about synthetic biology in an engaging manner.

To learn more about our educational initiatives follow these links:

Solution to Problem 2

Through Simply Synbio, we can simplify synthetic biology articles in a clear manner so that anyone can learn more about current synthetic biology research without the tools required to decipher complex research papers with the aims to promote discussion and invoke thought into the implications that synthetic biology discoveries brings to our communities. For example, we explain the positive impacts that genetically modified organisms have provided us in regards to healthcare through blood stem cell breakthroughs in Alzheimer’s Research, and the environment with engineering bacteria to act as more effective and environmentally-friendly biosynthetic sensors while explaining the risks and benefits involved with these forms of technology. The breakdown of these research papers will help promote a deeper understanding of the impacts of this technology and we aim to promote discussion and invoke thought into the implications that synthetic biology discoveries brings to our communities.

To access the full website follow this link:

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Table 1: Relevant Simply Synbio Articles

Feedback from Relevant Stakeholder

Let’s Talk Science is Canada’s largest STEM outreach organization, collaborating with over 55 sites across the nation to offer free, hands-on activities to passionate youth. Given their vast reach, we reached out to the UBC Let’s Talk Science site early on with a goal of enriching their hands-on activity database with activity guides curated by our team focusing on topics in DNA, Synthetic Biology and Genetic Engineering to help spread Synthetic Biology education throughout our local and national communities. We met with the team of UBC Let’s Talk Science Coordinators: Sheker Mammetgurban (Site Supervisor), Narjis Alhusseini (School Partnerships Program Coordinator), Adrienne Kinman (Scientific Methods and Research Techniques Program Coordinator), Inari Sosa (Climate Change Program Coordinator) and Adefolawe (Events and Special Projects Coordinator) to pitch our goals and received meaningful feedback from each member of the team. We were advised to create activities that would be easy to follow by a crowd who had never before learned about topics in Synthetic Biology, while also ensuring that each activity had minimal consumables to maintain our goals of both education and sustainability.

This advice was used when curating our 3 hands-on activity guides: (1) Design your own GMO, (2) A Synbio Case Study: Find the Culprit!, and (3) CRISPR-Cas9 Model Building. Upon meeting again with the Narjis, she was thrilled that these activities could be used by our UBC site volunteers each year within the School Partnerships Program which pairs up volunteers from our institution’s site with K-12 classrooms to enrich their STEM education. Following this conversation, she shared our activities with further Let’s Talk Science coordinators at the 2024 Western Regional Lets’ Talk Science Conference and 2024 National Let’s Talk Science Conference to gauge further feedback and we were met with excitement and appreciation from Let’s Talk Science sites all across Canada who were happy to see UBC Vancouver’s iGEM team take the first step to foster a collaboration between Canadian iGEM teams and Let’s Talk Science. Since then, we have submitted our activity guides for uploading to the National Volunteer Activity Database as these were the first to promote Synthetic Biology in a fun and digestible manner for various primary to secondary school audiences. We hope that this collaboration will grow each year and aim to continue inspiring iGEMers across Canada to share their Synbio knowledge within their local curriculums.

SDG 8: Decent Work and Economic Growth

The UN’s SDG #8 aims to promote inclusive and sustainable economic growth and productive employment for all. nuCloud contributes to this vision by aligning with several of the SDG’s specific targets. For instance, our work supports Target 8.2 by fostering economic productivity through the development of an energy-efficient solution for data storage. Additionally, our project aligns with Target 8.3, as it has the potential to evolve into a startup, creating new jobs and stimulating economic activity. Finally, by addressing sustainability concerns in the data storage industry, our project contributes to Target 8.4 of decoupling economic growth from environmental degradation.

Problem Identifications

Problem #1 - Costs and Accessibility to Data Storage

In our ever-increasing data-driven world, data storage technologies are key. That said, current data storage technologies are expensive26 and require a lot of space, which small businesses and developing countries may struggle to afford. There are 10,978 data centers in the world, and according to the United States International Trade Commission27, the USA alone accounts for 33% of that total, the next closest country is the UK with 5.7%. The gap is huge, there is a need for the democratization of data. As the global economy becomes increasingly digital, data is power. As such, access to affordable data storage becomes essential for sustaining economic productivity for all countries. This impacts Target 8.a., which seeks to promote innovation and technological upgrading in a manner that is inclusive and economically viable for all.

Problem #2 - Data Storage Capacity hindering economic growth

The exponential growth in data production, driven by the digitalization of industries, presents challenges for existing storage solutions in terms of both capacity and durability. Current systems are reaching physical limits in their storage density, which limits their scalability28,29. Moreover, it was calculated that even if electrons, the smallest possible quantum computing transistor element, are used: Moore’s Law will be obsolete by 203630. This stagnates productivity growth, particularly in high-value sectors like technology and data management, impacting Target 8.2 and the need for sustained economic growth.

Problem #3 - Decouple growth from environmental Harm

Current data storage technologies are energy-intensive, particularly in data centers where cooling systems are necessary to prevent overheating. Additionally, these technologies often have limited lifespans of 10-15 years31: contributing to the growing issue of e-waste, and increasing environmental degradation. It is calculated32 that the environmental footprint of these storage solutions is 0.2 tons of CO2 per 100 GB, which hinders the global effort to decouple economic growth from environmental harm, as emphasized in Target 8.4.

Long Term Social, Environmental, and Economic Impacts

Solution to Problem #1 - Lowering Costs and Improving Access to Data Storage

Currently, DNA is not as cost-effective as the other alternatives. DNA storage is estimated to cost 800 million USD per terabyte of data. By contrast, tape storage costs approximately 15 USD per terabyte33. However, current trends in DNA synthesis technologies point to this changing soon. The IARPA has laid out a target roadmap towards a synthesis cost of $1 per TB by 2030 34. Thus by harnessing DNA synthesis for data storage, nuCloud has the potential to provide a long-lasting, cost-effective alternative to existing technologies in the future. In this regard we are aligning with Target 8.a, since we could make data storage technologies more accessible to small businesses and industries in developing countries.

Solution to Problem #2 - Increasing Data Storage Capacity and Productivity

nuCloud’s use of DNA as a storage medium addresses the limitations of current storage technologies in terms of capacity and scalability. Unlike traditional storage devices that are constrained by physical space and environmental impacts, DNA’s theoretical data density of 1.7 × 10¹⁰ GB/g enables storing the total global data in just 10 kg of DNA3536. This leap in storage capacity facilitates significant economic productivity, particularly in data-dependent industries like finance, healthcare, and cloud services, contributing to Target 8.2. Additionally, by reducing the amount of physical storage space and infrastructure required, we are promoting innovation and diversification: creating a pathway for future economic growth in the data storage industry for developing countries, which aligns with Target 8.1.

Solution to Problem #3 - Decouple growth from environmental harm

nuCloud’s DNA storage consumes little to no energy once the data is encoded, and DNA’s long-term stability ensures minimal environmental footprint. Moreover, enzymatic synthesis utilizes fewer chemicals than traditional DNA synthesis methods and since it does not use acetonitrile, it has lower GHG emissions, energy consumption, and water usage3. Our platform promotes decoupling long-term data storage from environmental degradation, aligning with Target 8.4, which emphasizes improving global resource efficiency in production and consumption.

Learn more about how we are tackling this in the SDG 12 section.

nuCloud’s Potential Negative Impacts in Addressing SDG #8

While nuCloud offers many benefits, it may also create challenges. The reliance on scientific infrastructure, mainly a sequencer, as well as some base biology knowledge, might limit its accessibility to small enterprises in developing nations. This could hinder the inclusive economic growth advocated by Target 8.a, despite us previously claiming to be aligned with it. Another risk is the potential job displacement within traditional data storage sectors as DNA-based storage solutions replace older technologies. While technological progress is essential, it could lead to disruptions in employment if workers are not retrained for emerging sectors, impacting Target 8.5. In the next iteration of our project, we will look at ways to incorporate solutions to these issues.

Feedback from relevant SDG stakeholder

We reached out to Nikita Telkar who is part of BC Investment TeamBC at Front Row Ventures and a PhD Candidate in Medical Genetics. She gave us insight into key aspects to consider in our project from an investor standpoint. Nikita indicated that it is necessary to quantify the metrics our product will address to lessen costs and waste in comparison to standard methods. For instance, considering the reusability of our SPS platform vs the need to use several pipette tips for every experiment. Additionally, she indicated that while labels like “Reusability and Sustainability” are great, investors’ main goal is the profitability of the product. Our product needs to stand alone in terms of cost/revenue. Some of the comparisons to standard methods can be found Green Chemistry and Green Engineering. We believe that the conversation with Nikita helped us expand on our perspective to better impact Target 8.3, which looks to support entrepreneurship, creativity, and innovation to create new jobs.

Linkage to other SDGs

While SDG 8 is mainly focused on promoting economic growth and decent employment for all, it encourages this growth to be sustainable. Moreover, it is often the case that economic growth is coupled with the development of industrialization and resilient infrastructure. These two subjects have their own Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs 9 and 12), which we have also delved deeply into to holistically address the impact of our project. You can learn more in the SDG 9 and 12 section.

References

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