Team:IISER Kolkata/Human Practices
![[preloader image]](https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2021/d/d6/T--IISER_Kolkata--image-preloader.gif)
Loading . . .
Subclinical Bovine mastitis is a long-persisting problem in the dairy industries all over the world. India is one of the largest producers and consumers of milk in the world. Bovine mastitis is a problem that demands serious attention to safeguarding the economy of our dairy sector, the health of cows, and people consuming raw milk. The prevalence of Subclinical bovine mastitis ranges from 19.20 to 83% in cows and alone leads to 70-80% economic loss in the dairy industry [1] It is also seen that Subclinical bovine mastitis is more prevalent in India [2]. Not only in India, but this problem also persists in the dairy industries all over the world for many years and people are trying to find a permanent solution to this problem [3]. Now, as much as Subclinical mastitis is a problem in the cows and dairy industry, it is also a serious health hazard for humans. Subclinical bovine mastitis doesn’t show any visible symptoms in either the cows or the milk. Therefore the mastitis-causing pathogens present in the milk can easily enter the food chain of humans resulting in food poisoning outbreaks and other severe health problems [4]. This disease causes degradation of the milk quality, hence resulting in a large amount of wastage. With the passage of time, this has been emerging as a very challenging hurdle to overcome.
One of our team members encountered the problem of bovine mastitis at a personal level. Then we realized that the problem of bovine mastitis is extremely relevant to society, affecting different members of the society differently. Therefore our team wanted to recognize the difficulties faced by people due to bovine mastitis and develop a solution for them. We understood the importance of evaluating the impact that our project will have on society and further modifying and adapting our project to deliver the most optimized solution to the stakeholders by taking their input. Integrated Human Practices will help us understand the mutualistic relationship of society and science and how their views will shape scientific advancement and cater to the needs of communities and build a good and responsible solution. We have engaged in meaningful discussions with communities to develop a solution for them. Conversations with our stakeholders have guided the development of our project throughout to shape it into a better solution to the long-standing problem of Bovine Subclinical mastitis in the dairy industry.
You may follow our Integrated Human Practices Tree to know our Human Practices Workflow and framework.
The problem of Subclinical bovine mastitis has been a persistent problem in dairy industries worldwide and indirectly affecting human health since time immemorial. But unfortunately, since the ill-effects of this disease are not directly experienced by the general public. The common people are quite unaware of the serious threats this disease can pose and the escalating problem of antibiotic resistance, which is also boosted by the current treatment techniques.
1.a. Knowing the problem
Likewise, initially our team members too were unaware of the bovine mastitis disease and its menaces. Our team member Anshuman was the first person to learn about the existence of bovine mastitis disease. When he conversed with his milk person (Milkperson1), he inquired about his absence from duty for a few days. During this conversation, Anshuman first learned about the symptoms of bovine mastitis and came to know that proper treatment for the disease is not easily feasible in remote places of India. Due to no visibility of symptoms at the early stage, Milkperson1 (consent to disclose identity not provided) was unaware that one of his cows was suffering from Subclinical mastitis and hence could not start the treatment procedure early. By the time symptoms started appearing, i.e., redness and hardness of the cow’s udder, flakes and pus in the milk, and deterioration in quality and quantity of the milk. By the time, antibiotic treatment was initiated by vets; it was pretty late to help the cow recover from the disease. This incident had prompted the whole team to properly realize the roots of the problem, and a process of researching upon “What is Bovine Mastitis” got initiated.
1.b. Literature study of the problem
After learning about the existence of Bovine Mastitis disease, it was important to educate ourselves more about the study that has happened in the academic world on this disease till date. An initial in-depth study about the disease was important for collecting valuable preliminary information. After sufficient literature study, we learned about the etiology of the disease, the colonization of pathogens in the udder tissue, and the disease progression. A variety of pathogens like Staphylococcus aureus, Streptococcus uberis, Streptococcus agalactiae, Klebsiella spp, certain strains of E.coli are responsible for infecting the cows in different regions in the world to cause clinical and Subclinical mastitis [5]. The pathogenic cells produce certain toxins and start spreading the infection initially damaging the cells lining the teat and the gland cisterns in the alveoli. The infection further progresses to the duct system and the milk-producing cells. As the infection progresses, the leukocytes reach the area of inflammation to fight the pathogens [6]. Currently, antibiotics are majorly used in treating the disease by killing the mastitis-causing pathogens. To detect Subclinical and clinical mastitis in cows, some tests like Somatic Cell Count, California Mastitis Test, Modified White Side Test, Bromothyl Blue Card Test exist in today’s world [7]. Recent studies have produced data to show that mastitis-causing pathogens are developing antibiotic resistance. Therefore, it is becoming increasingly difficult to treat the disease in cows by using available antibiotics. Hence the problem of antimicrobial resistance has been prevalently developing in this field too [8]. These detailed studies provided us with intricate information pertaining to this disease we have targeted in our proposed solutions.
Since the inception of iGEM, many projects have been developed to tackle the issue of antibiotic resistance. It gave us a scope to take inspiration from previous iGEM Projects and further modify and propose an effective solution. We came across the project Case13a, 2017 iGEM Project of Team TUDelft. This project also focuses on tackling the problem of antibiotic resistance in the dairy industry. The team has developed a very elegant detection kit that can identify the antibiotic resistance in pathogenic bacteria with the help of the CRISPR-Cas13a system. Their detection kit was developed by integrating the needs of the stakeholders and therefore is well-shaped to be a relevant and responsible solution with respect to their socio-economic background. We wanted to communicate their solution to the dairy farmers in our country or local regions to understand whether the detection kit proposed by Team TUDelft in 2017 supports the needs and expectations of the community in India who are affected by the problem of bovine mastitis. To understand the social landscape in our local region, we thus engaged in respectful conversations with various stakeholders of our project.
Subclinical and clinical bovine mastitis being prevalent in dairy industries all over the world, there are some detection and treatment techniques that do exist and are in use currently. But recent research shows that antibiotic resistance is increasing in the pathogens of mastitis. Due to the extensive and inappropriate use of antibiotics for various purposes in animal food, there has been a steady evolution of antibiotic-resistant microbes. Staphylococcus aureus, which is one of the major Subclinical mastitis-causing pathogens, is also developing AMR [9]. TUDelft’s proposed detection kit will help to specify the antibiotic resistance of the pathogen but devising a non-antibiotic method of treatment is extremely essential to prevent the uncontrolled usage of antibiotics in the dairy industry.
There is also a very striking socio-economic difference in India and the Netherlands. We recognized this differential need of our local community. Therefore, it was very important to interact with the stakeholders for whom we are developing the solution. The human-centric approach of designing our solutions will help us to incorporate the exigencies of the people directly affected by our work. An empathetic and respectful conversation along with asking the right questions has helped us shape a good, safe and responsible solution adapting to the requirements of the stakeholders. Our carefully framed conversations made sure that people concerned with our project had involvement throughout the formulation process of our project.
To maintain the correct pathway of research to develop a solution and the mutualistic relationship of people and science we had started interacting with the stakeholders from the beginning of our project.
3.a. Our steps to involve the stakeholders included:
⎼ Identifying the stakeholders
We analyzed and listed the individuals who have direct or indirect relationships with our project and whose lives will be positively or negatively affected by our work such as small scale and large scale dairy farmers, local milk persons, dairy farms, veterinary doctors, veterinary scientists, and consumers of milk and milk products.
⎼ Framing the right questions
As per our needs, we asked end-users of our product about the problems they face due to bovine mastitis, their observations of the disease, how it affects their livelihood, and their opinions regarding the existing solutions to the problem. We also asked their views regarding the proposed synthetic biology solutions to understand the acceptance of the technology in the veterinary community. We framed our interview and survey questions with the guidance of Dr Malancha Ta, the secretary of our Institutional Ethics Committee, who screened our survey and interview questions. We proceeded to conduct our interviews and surveys based on the approved questionnaire.
⎼ Analyzing the conversation
After meaningful interaction with the stakeholders, it is essential to analyze the conversation to identify and understand the issues that need to be addressed and prioritized while developing our solution.
3.b. Engagement with stakeholders
Interaction with milk persons or small scale dairy farmers
India has the highest number of small scale dairy farmers in the world with small scale dairy farmers producing 62% of the total amount of milk produced in the country [10], [11]. We interviewed some local milk persons and small scale dairy farmers to know their perspectives. Talking to 9 small scale dairy farmers from the Asansol region in West Bengal state, we learned that the usage of detection techniques by small scale farmers, despite being available, is negligible to detect the disease or to keep a check on it. Prevention practices are also not in practice amongst them. Ramsundar Yadav, a dairy farmer having 10 cows, explained to us the problem they faced with antibiotics as the only treatment techniques
The current diagnostic kit like California Mastitis Test is very rarely used by any local milk persons or small scale dairy farmers in India. As the kit is not sensitive and not easily accessible, all the interviewees stated that this kit is not popular in use. They also cannot afford a somatic cell count test as the SCC Tests are both expensive and time-consuming and therefore not at all profitable for farmers rearing very few cows. The absolute reliance of detection of the disease upon symptoms that are visible under naked eyes has also made it difficult to identify the disease and start a treatment process early. This has been reiterated by Gangasagar Prasad in his interview as
However, all the interviewees have invariably mentioned that bovine mastitis, once caused damages the teats either partially or fully. The treatment is quite expensive for them and incurs heavy monetary losses with a huge decrease in milk production as dairy is their only prime source of income and livelihood. So a cheaper method of detection and treatment will always be beneficial for them.
Interaction with dairy processing units and Dairy farm - Haringhata Dairy Farm
After obtaining a detailed overview of how bovine mastitis affects the livelihoods of small-scale dairy farmers and milk persons, it was also important to understand the perspective of dairy processing units and big dairy farms. We interacted with the large scale dairy farmers and managers of Haringhata farm in Mohanpur, West Bengal to understand their purview too. Subclinical Mastitis is the disease causing the maximum amount of losses in their dairy production. Our conversation with these stakeholders helped us to know that prevention and detection techniques are more in use in the big dairy farms and dairy processing units as in this case, implementing these processes are more affordable and achievable. Even public health is of great concern to them as consumption of milk (or milk products) from diseased cows will lead to transmission of infectious pathogens from the milk to humans which will cause very serious gastrointestinal diseases and other infections like TB, Scarlet fever, etc. However, antibiotic treatment technique remains an unsolved complication here too. They look up to an alternative solution to the problem of the antibiotic treatment process to evade the problem of antibiotic resistance in pathogens.
Veterinary doctors have years of experience in handling this disease and therefore have profound knowledge in this field. We talked to a few veterinary doctors to understand the pathological conditions of mastitis and their opinions on antibiotic treatment. Most of them have expressed a major concern regarding the uncontrolled usage of antibiotics recommended by non-certified veterinarians which causes a huge problem. As Dr. Sujit Das puts it,
During our interview session Dr. N.C. Patra highlighted a very important aspect regarding our project. Cows in India are considered divine representatives and are worshipped too. So people here share a very sentimental connection with cows and are extremely cautious about their cows. So farmers generally are very protective of their cows, and it is pretty challenging to convince them to treat cows in newer and better scientific ways. Only when the farmer can trust the process, they allow their cows to be tested. Dr. Patra thus advised us that creating awareness amongst the dairy farmers and milk persons is extremely important to make them understand the importance of new non-antibiotic treatment techniques so that they too get involved in this noble initiative. We took this advice and worked accordingly in our science communication and also tried our best to respect the sentiments of the people while building our project.
We also wanted to obtain a global perspective of bovine mastitis and decided to reach out to people affected by mastitis in other countries. We contacted Dr. Peter Edmundson, a veterinarian practising in the UK and also has significant work experience in certain parts of Africa. Dr. Edmundson has been very instrumental in helping us understand the main problems in treating the disease in the UK and also informed us about the scenario in Africa. He mentioned to us that treating the S.aureus infection with antibiotics is extremely difficult as they have developed antimicrobial resistance. Also, accurate and reliable detection is what the vets and farmers in their region look forward to for early detection of the disease. However, in countries in the West, prevention techniques, regular detection tests (SCC Count) for mastitis are maintained as much as possible. Strict regulations regarding the usage of antibiotics are maintained by the government, quite contrary to India. However, in Africa, situations are somewhat similar to India regarding the testing and treatment of mastitis due to similar socio-economic reasons.
Interaction with milk consumers
During our conversation with Dr. Indranil Samanta (veterinary scientist at West Bengal University of Animal and Fishery Sciences), he mentioned to us that, bovine mastitis disease not only affects the cows and the economy of the dairy industry but also affects the milk or milk product consumers and their public health. Consumption of raw milk or improperly pasteurized milk or milk products lead to serious stomach infections and diseases like tuberculosis and food poisoning outbreaks. The excessive amount of antibiotics that are used in treating and controlling the disease can cause inflammation in allergic individuals, sensitization in people with normal health and develop antibiotic-resistant strains of bacteria. If the issue of antibiotic resistance is not checked with the passing time and prolonged usage of antibiotics can also develop into a potential epidemic or pandemic. So we also tried to reach out to the milk or milk products consumers to understand whether they are sufficiently aware of the mastitis and AMR issues. We had circulated a survey google form for the initiative and collected their responses. From their responses, it was clear that not many people were aware of mastitis disease and the issue of AMR. It was essential to increase awareness regarding these issues to help people maintain their public health and no longer add on to the problem of AMR but rather help in reducing it.
Our conversation with the stakeholders made us realize that Subclinical bovine mastitis is a very serious problem demanding immediate attention for the sake of public health, the health of cows and the dairy industry’s economy in countries all over the world. However, it is currently being dealt with importance at different levels due to differences in economy, technological advances, and opportunities in different countries. When we contemplated the use of the detection kit developed by the 2017 iGEM Team of TUDelft and discussed it with the users, we understood that they expected a more user-friendly detection kit with fewer steps involved. Also devising a non-antibiotic treatment method is of most importance as the threats of antimicrobial resistance are increasing at an alarming rate. Listening to our stakeholders’ interests, we returned to come up with a safe and responsible solution incorporating and integrating stakeholders’ opinions and voices. What our stakeholders expect in a good solution are:
Integrating all these opinions was very important to us to build our project. But due to limited time, resources, and opportunities, it was difficult to fulfill every requirement practically. Therefore we prioritised certain needs and values in our project so that we can offer the best and optimised solutions to our stakeholders. We felt that it is our utmost priority to develop a non-antibiotic treatment technique to combat the problem of AMR keeping in mind the need to safeguard bovine and public health while acknowledging the popular sentiment of people towards cows. For an efficient implementation of the treatment process to keep the disease under check, it is also important to detect subclinical mastitis at an early stage. Hence we also decided to focus upon developing an early, point-of-care, user-friendly detection kit that can be used regularly by the farmers to keep a check of mastitis in their herd of cows. To effectively implement a better treatment and detection method, it is also essential to properly increase the awareness of our stakeholders regarding the bovine mastitis disease and its preventive measures.
Our Priorities are to build -
4.a. Choosing synthetic biology as a solution
Synthetic biology has a huge potential to solve many problems in this current world. Hence, we also wanted to explore the possibilities that synthetic biology could also be used to solve the treatment and detection parts of Subclinical bovine mastitis disease. However, we had to keep in mind the risks that synbio could pose to nature when the products will be applied in the real world. We talked to Dr. Indranil Samanta who guided us to understand how we should be careful while implementing a synthetic biology solution. He informed us regarding the steps of trials that our product should undergo to ensure that it is safe to be used in cows and the environment. He advised us to abide by the guidelines of the ethics committee, institutional biosafety committee, and animal ethics committee to ensure our product’s safety. Dr. Amal Roy mentioned that application of genetically engineered material might not face widespread acceptance and will pose a challenge for implementation. The product will need to be tested, used, and recommended by veterinarians for dairy farmers and milk persons to use our product. Dr. Kunal Batabyal told us that to develop a GMO based therapeutic, and implement it in the real world, our product and project will have to undergo several steps of biosafety checkings to ensure that our project and product is safe. He generously helped us by providing documents of the Animal Ethics Committee, that are needed to file an application to obtain clearance from the state and national level Animal Ethics Committee. He also advised us to incorporate a kill switch in our GMO to ensure that it will not cause any additional harm when released into the environment. With all these initial inputs from our stakeholders, we started building the framework of our project.
Our conversation with our stakeholders helped us realise how we should build our project and which aspects we should prioritise. With these basic knowledge supports, we started designing our GMO which will be able to kill the pathogens. We first needed to decide the pathogens that will be targeted by our GMO. From the literature study, we learned that there are several pathogens (S.aureus, S.uberis, S.agalactiae, E.coli, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, etc.) that are the causative organisms of Subclinical and clinical bovine mastitis. Both Dr. Indranil Samanta and Dr. Peter Edmundson advised us to mainly focus on targeting S.aureus and S.uberis pathogens as they mainly cause disease and are most abundant in infected cows. They shared their opinion that effectively killing most of S.aureus pathogens will help to cure the Subclinical bovine mastitis disease to the maximum extent. Hence we went on to focus upon targeting S.aureus (and S.uberis to some extent) pathogens by our GMO so that we are able to cure the disease to the maximum level.
After finalising on S.aureus as our target pathogen, we decided to sense the pathogen utilizing the quorum sensing system of S.aureus itself. We decided to clone two genes, NisinPV (the bacteriocin which can kill S.aureus and S.uberis) and the lysisE7 gene (the gene that will lyse the chassis cell to let the bacteriocin escape out of the cell and kill the pathogenic cells) downstream to the quorum sensing unit. After this basic design of our genetic circuit, we had a conversation with Dr. Peter Edmundson again to know whether releasing only a bacteriocin would be enough to kill the pathogens. He then explained to us how S.aureus forms a biofilm matrix all around its cells. The biofilms at the very advanced stage of the disease form a hard can-like structure around the cells and therefore, it becomes challenging for the antibiotics to evade the biofilm and finally kill the pathogenic cells. So it is essential for us to incorporate a method in the genetic circuit that will be able to degrade the biofilm formed by the pathogenic cells and help the bacteriocin directly act upon the pathogenic cells. Listening to this great piece of advice, we further did some research and finalized to incorporate the DnaseI gene into our genetic circuit that will degrade the biofilm formed by the pathogenic bacteria.
We also needed to choose a suitable bacteria as our chassis organism, which can work inside the udder tissues and does not harm the cows. We consulted Dr. Amirul Islam Mallick regarding this issue and he suggested using a probiotic bacteria like Lactobacillus lactis as the chassis. These probiotics are also introduced into cows and can be safely used as chassis organisms for our GMO therapeutic. This discussion helped us to proceed to choose Lactococcus lactis LMG7930 as our chassis. Dr. Mallick also assured us that synthetic biology does have a lot of potential as a solution to Subclinical bovine mastitis disease.
With some more refinements in our proposed genetic circuit, we consulted our department professor Dr. Tapas Kumar Sengupta for more advice. He advised us to put the lysis gene under a weak promoter to ensure that the cell gets lysed only after a required amount of DnaseI and NisinPV has been produced. So we proceeded to put the LysisE7 gene under the P3 promoter, which is a weak promoter.
After intense brainstorming to build a framework of our project, we prepared to run experiments in our laboratory to test our proposal. One of our initial ideas was to test the biofilm degradation activity by DnaseI by performing an assay. We were planning to perform the assay by culturing the cells in a single media. But Dr. T.K. Sengupta suggested that we analyse the cell and biofilm growth and use the media producing best growth results for our DnaseI assay. This will help us to obtain much better and precise results for biofilm degradation by DnaseI. Dr. T.K. Sengupta also supported our project by providing us with Pseudomonas aeruginosa bacterial strains to conduct our biofilm assay.
Our interaction with veterinary and wet lab experts played a very crucial role in the design of our project and execution of the wet lab experiments. Their valuable advice and deep research insights helped us to efficiently incorporate the priorities of the stakeholders into our project. Their remarkable guidance helped our project to evolve for the better.
To know more visit our wetlab and drylab pages of our website.
Our team had designed a non-antibiotic method of treatment and a SHERLOCKv2 based detection kit with the advice of experts and stakeholders, we needed to think about ways to implement our product too. We have aimed to build our project in a human-centric approach and therefore it was important that we reached back to our stakeholders who have helped us shape our project to get their feedback. Our conversation with our stakeholders after building our project has helped us close the loop by emphasizing on building a safe, ethical, and responsible solution. It is important to make sure that we had incorporated the values and concerns shared by the people we had communicated with and deliver them a safe solution to use.
6.a. A safe product following ethical guidelines
To ensure that our project and naMOOste products are safe and follow the ethical rules, we had approached Dr. Amirul Islam Mallick for guidance. He advised us to firstly apply our project to the Institutional BioSafety Committee for their approval. We have applied for the same with the help of our PI, Dr. Supratim Datta. With clearance from IBSC, we will be applying to the Institutional Animal Ethics Committee to ensure that our experiments and GMO are safe to be tested on animals. Further our GMO product will have to undergo phase trials of experimental testing within laboratory conditions and in a controlled and contained environment (details). If the phase trials turn out to be successful, our product will be ready to be launched into the market.
6.b. Closing the loop
We had chosen the aspects to focus on in our project to tackle the problem of Subclinical bovine mastitis to the maximum extent possible. After designing the solution it is essential to walk back the path to evaluate whether our solution catered to the requirements of our stakeholders.
We have genetically engineered a GMO which will sense the presence of pathogens and release bacteriocins to kill the pathogenic cells. This non-antibiotic therapeutic will help in reducing the uncontrolled overuse of antibiotics in the dairy industry to a certain extent and thus meets the stakeholders’ needs.
We had finalised the use of the SHERLOCKv2 technique to detect the miRNAs (biomarkers for subclinical bovine mastitis disease). To turn the signal into a visual colourimetric we started exploring different methods. After enough research, we concluded upon using a hydrogel-based micropad for a visual readout for the results. We brainstormed to develop a detection kit with a lesser number of steps than the kit developed by the 2017 TUDelft iGEM Team and therefore combined the SHERLOCKv2 into a hydrogel-based micropad made of wax paper to evade the RPA amplification step yet attain a detectable signal. However, the CRISPR-responsive micropad based diagnostics that James Collins lab has developed was based on CRISPRCas12 and DNA system. We had to reproduce the method for the Cas13a enzyme and RNA system. Dr. Sayam Sen Gupta played a huge role in helping us devise the method for CRISPR-Cas13a enzymes and on RNA hydrogel. Avinash Padhy, a research student working in Dr. Sengupta’s lab guided us on the procedure of synthesizing the RNA hydrogel and the cross-linkers keeping in mind to make a cheap and accurate detection kit. The detection kit can be used at regular intervals by dairy farmers (small scale farmers and large dairy farms) to detect Subclinical bovine mastitis from milk even when there are no visible symptoms available. After several rounds of brainstorming, we proceeded to develop a storable, cheap, point-of-care, user-friendly early detection kit for use. To know more about our detection you may visit our Description webpage.
We made sure to take into account the safety concerns of the detection technique as we were using a genetically modified organism as our therapeutic which can even pose a threat if not evaluated properly. Our stakeholders had expressed concerns that the GMO needs to be eliminated if their work is done or are not used and should not be allowed to stay alive in the environment without any check. To make sure that these risks are tackled we incorporated a kill switch into our GMO which is explained in detail in our Safety webpage.
Our conversation with our stakeholders made us realize that effective science communication and awareness regarding the threats of overuse of antibiotics and proper education of bovine mastitis disease amongst the dairy farmers and the general public is extremely important to reduce the harmful effects of these issues. We, therefore, engaged in effective conversations with the public to communicate our science and also helped them connect to our research endeavors. These meaningful conversations helped them to understand that their voices were heard and how they could also participate in the noble initiative of turning the world into a better place.
6.c. Turning our product into a scalable market product
To launch our GMO therapeutic in the market, we have to turn it into a scalable product. This will help our end product reach our consumer base. The GMO needs to be produced in masses at a large scale in bioreactors. These opportunities were explored under the guidance of the RISE incubation center and Dr. Sayam Sengupta. To know more about our entrepreneurial work you may visit our Supporting Entrepreneurship Webpage.
Since the beginning of our project, effective conversations and consultations with various stakeholders have helped us shape our project. The voices and values of their concerns have been integrated into our project to build a solution for them and with them. But there is an essential need of connecting the people with the scientific research we are working on for them for more effective implementation of the measures and control of the alarming issues. As mentioned earlier too, we had noticed a significant lack of awareness about the threats of rising AMR and public health issues from bovine mastitis. Preventive measures are also not in good practice due to a lack of knowledge amongst the small-scale dairy farmers and local milk persons. We thus also tried to reduce the gap between the scientific and social community through our various science communication. Dr. Peter Edmundson generously shared materials with us regarding preventive and controlling measures for Bovine Mastitis that is proposed to practice in dairy farms in the UK. We learned and took inspiration from the informative documents and further shared this knowledge with farmers in our locality. We have explored various ways to communicate to the general masses which we have discussed in detail on the Education page.
We, the IISER Kolkata 2021 iGEM Team have tried our best to build an effective solution for subclinical bovine mastitis - the silent killer of the dairy industry by engaging with different communities at different steps of our project and integrating their voices and concerns to build a solution for them.
References
- Tripti Kumari, Champak Bhakat and Rajeev Kumar Choudhary, A Review on Sub Clinical Mastitis in Dairy Cattle, ISSN: 2320 – 7051 Int. J. Pure App. Biosci. 6 (2): 1291-1299 (2018) DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.18782/2320-7051.6173
- Joshi S, Gokhale S. Status of mastitis as an emerging disease in improved and periurban dairy farms in India. Ann N Y Acad Sci. 2006 Oct;1081:74-83. doi: 10.1196/annals.1373.007. PMID: 17135496.
- Pamela L. Ruegg, A 100-Year Review: Mastitis detection, management, and prevention, Journal of Dairy Science, Volume 100, Issue 12, 2017, Pages 10381-10397, ISSN 0022-0302, https://doi.org/10.3168/jds.2017-13023.
- Karima Galal Abdel Hameed1, Grażyna Sender2, Agnieszka Korwin-Kossakowska2, Public health hazard due to mastitis in dairy cows, Animal Science Papers and Reports vol. 25 (2006) no. 2, 73-85
- Victor Ngu Ngwa, Vincenzo Cuteri, Julius Awah-Ndukum, Bernard Viban Tangwa, Kingsley Tanyi Manchang and Anna-Rita Attili, Bacterial Pathogens Involved in Bovine Mastitis and Their Antibiotic Resistance Patterns in the Adamawa Region of Cameroon, HSOA Journal of Dairy Research and Technology, DOI:10.24966/DRT-9315/100012
- By G.M. Jones, T.L. Bailey, Jr, J. R. Roberson, Staphylococcus Aureus Mastitis: Cause, Detection, and Control, 1998
- Iraguha B, Hamudikuwanda H, Mushonga B, Kandiwa E, Mpatswenumugabo JP. Comparison of cow-side diagnostic tests for subclinical mastitis of dairy cows in Musanze district, Rwanda. J S Afr Vet Assoc. 2017;88(0):e1-e6. Published 2017 Jun 21. doi:10.4102/jsava.v88i0.1464
- uad Ameen, Shorouk A. Reda, Sahar A. El-Shatoury, Emad M. Riad, Mohamed E. Enany, Abdullah A. Alarfaj, Prevalence of antibiotic resistant mastitis pathogens in dairy cows in Egypt and potential biological control agents produced from plant endophytic actinobacteria, Saudi Journal of Biological Sciences, Volume 26, Issue 7, 2019, Pages 1492-1498, ISSN 1319-562X, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sjbs.2019.09.008.
- Case13a, 2017 iGEM TUDelft
- We have been inspired by Human Practices performed by UNSW Australia iGEM Team 2020. Our human practices model is developed in a similar light.