When the United Nations launched the Sustainable Development Goals in 2015, they offered not just a list of 17 objectives, but a vision: to transform the way humanity relates to itself and to the planet. Ten years later, we are not only behind schedule—in many indicators we are moving backwards. This gap reveals a profound truth: achieving the SDGs is not simply a matter of producing more technologies, but of transforming the systems that define who has access to them, who decides their purpose, and who benefits from them.
In our project, we realized that synthetic biology alone does not guarantee sustainability or justice. During our Human Practices work, we discovered a critical contradiction: while we were designing an innovative vaccine against avian influenza, the farmers for whom it was intended often did not even know what the disease was. This mismatch between scientific innovation and community reality taught us that without democratizing science, the SDGs remain incomplete aspirations.
AvianGuard was born from this reflection. For us, science must not only be innovative, but also relevant, equitable, and transformative. The SDGs provide a framework to connect our local actions in Ecuador with global priorities, ensuring that our work contributes to shared challenges beyond our borders.
Achieving the SDGs means transforming how access, purpose, and benefits of technology are decided.
Workshops revealed that many poultry keepers were unaware of avian influenza, exposing knowledge gaps.
We commit to making synthetic biology relevant, equitable, and co-created with the communities we serve.
Three SDGs guide the core of AvianGuard. Each one links a concrete challenge faced by poultry producers to a specific contribution our oral vaccine platform makes possible.
Avian influenza threatens poultry production, causing economic losses, food shortages, and higher prices.
Our oral vaccine protects birds against H5N1, safeguarding meat and egg supply for accessible nutrition.
Traditional vaccine development is costly and infrastructure-heavy, limiting access for rural producers.
We engineer Lactococcus lactis as a low-cost biofactory, creating a scalable model for oral vaccines.
H5N1 affects wild birds, disrupts ecosystems, and threatens biodiversity across the Andean corridor.
Reducing viral spread protects wildlife and allows modular redesigns for other species through synthetic parts.
These SDGs expand our reach. They remind us that transforming science is not only about preventing disease; it is about connecting, empowering, and reshaping structures alongside the people most affected.
Reducing outbreaks lowers zoonotic risk, improves animal welfare, and eases pressure on public health systems.
We coordinate with veterinarians and authorities to embed biosecurity and prevention.
Training in rural schools turns classrooms into co-learning labs where technical and ancestral knowledge meet.
We create participatory modules and adapt materials to the realities of each community.
Women lead poultry farming in rural Ecuador; centering their voices tackles structural inequities head-on.
Workshops are designed for accessibility and leadership roles, tracking women’s participation.
Preventing losses protects livelihoods and increases the economic resilience of poultry families.
We estimate savings versus traditional methods and open pathways for new technical roles.
Empowering small-scale producers narrows economic and social gaps across rural territories.
We ensure equitable access to technology, training 20% women and smallholders for local leadership.
Adopting probiotics reduces antibiotic overuse and waste while adapting technology to fragile environments.
We measure antibiotic reduction and promote easy-to-apply vaccines with biosecure protocols.
Our contribution to the SDGs goes beyond aligning icons on a page. It means redefining how science is practiced and with whom. These are the commitments we share with the iGEM community:
If the SDGs are to be more than promises, initiatives like AvianGuard must become catalysts for a science that protects biodiversity, feeds communities, and restores justice—biological, cognitive, and social.
Sustainability is not just producing less waste or more food; it is redistributing power, recognizing local knowledge, and co-designing futures with the people who will live them.