Why we should care about global demographics

There are a number of Institutions that keep a watchful eye on global trends. It might be climate change, pollution levels, sea levels, coastal erosion, financial markets, conflict risks or the changing population levels of bees, ash trees, tigers or humans. Organisations such as the CIA, the World Bank, the World Health Organisation, the United Nations, commission scientists, economists, psychologists, medics, mathematicians, engineers, sociologists, philosophers, linguists etc to provide their "take" on these matters. The reasons for this "surveillance" are manifold. Banks, investors, politicians and multinationals commission such reports in order to mitigate risks associated with their activities or to inform investment (and downsizing) decisions. So investment in a country like Libya (in the aftermath of conflict) may be regarded as high risk by some organisations (eg Pizza Hut), but may be attractive to others (eg Private Security firms); and moreover as the conflict subsides, major infrastructure companies such as Vinci from France will undoubtedly be "hovering". The decision to build more houses, schools or roads may be influenced in part by international population movements, or following an evaluation of annual birth rate data. If the number of children born in South Yorkshire in 2012 is significantly different than in 2010, the impact on income forecasts (and therefore teacher numbers) for a school can be critical and requires such regular surveillance.

The University of Sheffield is about to launch a project entitled 10¹⁰  that addresses these "high level" issues, by providing undergraduates at level 2, from any course, with the opportunity to form small interdisciplinary teams teams to simulate, evaluate and to develop ideas and solutions to solve the so called Grand Challenges of Society. The number reflects the predicted global population at the end of 2100 and the module aims to address the accompanying challenges that this will bring. This campus wide Achieve More Level 2 Module will shortly be made available as a pilot for volunteers in Semester Two of this (2015-2016) academic year. The structure of the module will be outlined at the dedicated "sign up" web site www.sheffield.ac.uk/10bn, which will become live after September 28th, 2015. [Contact details and institutional links are at the foot of this post, but will only come on stream for students in the New Year].

The Department of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology is delighted to offer the opportunity to its level 2 students to support the pilot scheme, and I am equally delighted to be the contact point for staff and students in the department. Why do I believe this is such an important opportunity? Well, first of all, since this post forms part of my Molecules to Market Blog site, where I comment on taking ideas in Biotechnology (broadly speaking) into the market place. I am sure you will agree that no matter how specialised a company may seem, its sustainability will be impacted on by the price of raw materials and/or the availability of manpower in some way. And, as I am sure you will be  already aware, an appreciation of the changing patterns of demographic trends is a critical aspect for sales and marketing, recruitment but perhaps more widely, and importantly, for global sustainability in general.

Uniquely, although I care about the species balance as a whole, it is homo sapiens alone that have the power to influence all other species and therefore we hold the key to global sustainability. (Of course, we could argue about this in the light of recent retroviral outbreaks, but for simplicity I hope you will allow me some " scientific" license!). I am also aware that the "companies" students construct as part of the various "Molecules to Market" levels, are not always profit making. For many "not-for-profit" organisations, global sustainability is embedded in their Business Planning.

With this said, what can students mid way through their undergraduate programmes in Biochemistry, Molecular Biology, Genetics, Microbiology (and permutations thereof) bring to the 10¹⁰ Table? Here are some ideas, to begin with.

GM foods. An obvious starting point! Why not take a look at the Golden Rice project. Have we moved on from the (in)famous Daily Mail "Frankenstein Food" debate? It would be interesting to use this module as an opportunity to revisit the issues and the recent advances in the Science. Is there a role here for  Synthetic Biology? It might also be worth considering polling your non-MBB colleagues on the course, to firm up your ideas and to explore the challenges facing the use of GM crops to address population growth demands and the provision of food in the face of geographical, economic, political, safety and ethical barriers.


Infectious diseases. The recent Ebola outbreak in Africa, the seemingly endless battle against Malaria, the concerns over antibiotic use and the apparent economic barriers to the development of drugs to combat diseases prevalent in the poorer nations of the world. As second year MBB students, what a great opportunity to harness your core module knowledge and place it in this global context.

Drinking water. When we in the UK experience a few hours with the mains supply turned off; or even longer when there is a contamination issue, we are on the phone to Ofwat. However, in global terms the challenge of providing a simple, inexpensive device to turn, what is often sewage into potable water could bring Biotechnology, Chemistry and Engineering together with Microbiology.

These are some quick ideas, framed in the context of Molecules to Market , but I would strongly you take a look at the Bill and Melinda Gates portal. The Blog site is a rich resource and shows just how influential the organisation has been and continues to be in tackling global sustainability through innovation. I am keen to here views from those other organisatioons that utilise the Molecules to Market concept: please comment freely. I would also send out an invitation for schools to use this Sheffield concept as a vehicle for outreach links. I am already talking with UTC colleagues at several locations to see if we can cascade down some of the undergraduate ideas when they begin to emerge early next year. I hope this has whetted your appetite! I am certainly looking forward to the forthcoming events.

LINKS AND FURTHER INFORMATION 

AML2 team members:

Sara Banning (Educational Developer), s.banning@sheffield.ac.uk

Dr Megan Blake (Academic Lead), m.blake@sheffield.ac.uk

Dr Alastair Buckley (Academic Lead), alastair.buckley@sheffield.ac.uk

Dr Amanda Crawley Jackson (Academic Lead), a.j.jackson@sheffield.ac.uk

Dr Roger Doonan (Academic Lead), r.doonan@sheffield.ac.uk

Fran Potgieter (Educational Developer), f.potgieter@sheffield.ac.uk

Juliet Storey (Lead Educational Developer) J.Storey@sheffield.ac.uk

Dr Tom Webb (Academic Lead), t.j.webb@sheffield.ac.uk

AML2 Homepage:

www.sheffield.ac.uk/10bn (in development, registration live 28th Sept 2015)

Achieve More staff website (currently being updated), including information on strategic curriculum change: https://sites.google.com/a/sheffield.ac.uk/strategic-curriculum-change/home