SCI-CON

Power

By: Wesley Fink and Tanner Spence

Africa

● 1.2 Billion people

● 54 Countries
● Beautiful Nature
○ Mt. Kilimanjaro
○ Victoria Falls
Our Issue:
Our Issue: Famine In Africa

● Sub-Saharan Africa currently is suffering from a lack of

food
● According to UNICEF, 80 million people in Africa are
threatened by famine and a lack of adequate food
○ More than half of these people are children
● 40% of people in South Sudan are on the verge of starving
● 2 million children in the DRC are malnourished
Current Limitations

● Poor infrastructure limits imported foods

● Raiders claim existing supplies
● There isn’t a sustainable source of food
● Farmers cannot use advanced equipment, and are
undereducated in general
● Drought getting in the way of growing crops
● Widespread poverty making it harder to afford food
Failures of Attempted Solutions

● Imported food bearly sustains many nations

● Mass imports destroyed farming industry
● Attempts to improving infrastructure quickly ran out of
funding
● Poor distribution to more extreme areas
Our Solution:
The Elevator Pitch:

● Using various technologies, we will genetically modify

corn and soybean seeds to become drought resistant.
● We will also make instructional booklets to help farmers
find the most effective way to farm
● These will be air dropped via large container crates
An Upgrade To Crops

● Seeds will be mass produced in the states via normal

farming methods by American farmers
● The seeds will need use less water and better withstand
dryer climates
● Later seeds will be capable of nitrogen fixation
Why This Is The Best Way To Go

● Already mentioned limitations

● Brings a more sustainable solution to the problem
● Lessens the drought issue
● Scientist approved
● Free for the Africans, which helps with the poverty issue
● Using air transport avoids infrastructure problems
Our Mentor: Dr. Thomas Lobl

● PhD scientist
● Works at the University of
Southern California
● Helped us develop our solution
and provided us with useful
information
The Science Behind It:
How We’re Going To Do It

● Using chipping technology, extract the gene DREB1/CBF

from yarrow
● Inserting the gene into corn and soybean seeds
● Mass produce these seeds
Chipping

● Used by the Monsanto company

● Involves a special chipping device
● Takes a small piece from a seed
● Grinds it up into a powder
● Can gather gene from here
DREB1/CBF

● Found in many plants such as the flower yarrow

● DREB1/CBF allows plants to need less water and withstand
dryer climates
● This is the gene we plan on inserting into soybean and
corn seeds
Our Tests:
Test #1:

● Purpose: To Find The Best Way To Insert The Gene

DREB1/CBF into Soybean and Corn seeds.
● Methods To Test:
○ Gene Gun
○ Heat Shock
○ Viral Transduction
Test #2:

● Purpose: Ensure that instructions are interpretable

without prior knowledge.
● Method To Test:
○ Instructions will be given to 100 people at random,
asked to interpret and carry out
Our Product:
Special Delivery

● Product will be delivered by high-velocity airdrop for

initial delivery, and door dropped for secondary
deliveries.
● American C-130s are our #one pick for delivery, however
other, faster aircraft could be used when ground fire is
a threat (ie, Syria, Sudan, etc)
● The organizations we want to reach out to are the United
Nations and the United States government
Our Seed Bags

Specifications:

● 50 pound bags
● Made from canvas
● 48 inches x 20 inches x 5 inches
● Manilla folder attached
○ 11 inches x 8.5 inches
Our Instruction Booklet

● The instruction packet uses pictograms

● These can be mass produced and distributed separate from
seed bags should the need arrive
● Further instructions will teach experienced farmers to
use more complex equipment
Why Pictograms

● Two major reasons

○ To help those that are illiterate understand the
instructions
■ According to UNESCO, 38% of African Adults are illeriate

○ The best way to account for all of the languages

spoken on the continent
■ Between 1500-2000 different languages are spoken on the continent
Instruction booklet
SCI-CON
SEEDS
5cm
13cm
4
Why This Issue Is Important:

● It affects 80 million people

○ Over half are children
● An entire continent is at risk
● If nothing is done, more people will continue to die from
malnourishment
● These people have a terrible quality of life
Why Invest In Our Product:

● Invest could lead to further development and trust in

your brand name
● A decreased malnourished population will increase
available workforce, which could work for you
● Other solutions do not fix the issues causing starvation,
this one does
● Products can be sold in the US, of which you will get a
cut.
Thanks For Listening And Happy Investing