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香港六合彩中特网 iGEM team publishes magazine story
9 October 2020
Each year 香港六合彩中特网 enters a team of students into the iGEM competition, our 2020 team has published a story about microbial superheroes! Watch iGEM member Laide explain iGEM and how they came to write a story for young and aspiring engineering students in a short film
Project title
PETZAP: Integrating enzymatic PET degradation into Microbial Desalination Cell technology
Abstract
The world鈥檚 oceans are suffocating from an annual addition of 8 million tons of plastic which threaten marine ecosystems and exacerbate water scarcity affecting over 2 billion lives. Our project aims to tackle these two global challenges by integrating enzymatic polyethylene terephthalate (PET) plastic degradation into a Microbial Desalination Cell (MDC). The system involves a 2-step process co-culturing engineered E. coli to express a PETase-MHETase fusion protein for degrading PET and P. putida to achieve further degradation and produce lactate, which then supports the biofilm growth of exoelectrogen, S. oneidensis, generating bioelectricity for desalination. Desalination efficiency was maximised by optimising lactate secretion, co-culture design, and MDC configuration based on the results from flux balance analysis (FBA) and agent-based modelling, simulating bacterial plastic degradation and bioelectricity production, respectively. Insights for further technical optimisation and feasible implementation at large scales were obtained through iterative engagement with experts and stakeholders.听