Baltimore BioCrew Project Description

The water that constitutes the Baltimore City Harbor is notorious for its unsanitary, unsafe condition; it consecutively fails government-mandated water quality tests and is deemed of having five times the amount of bacteria that would be considered safe for human contact. The contemporary ailments of the Harbor can be accredited to an ill-maintained sewage system, followed by the perpetuated cycle of littering.

Of all the pollutants that afflict our bodies of water, arguably the most notorious is plastic. Novel data acquired by the Ocean Crusaders Foundation disclosed that 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic debris are approximated to be situated in the ocean. Of that mass, 269,000 tons float on the surface, while some four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea.

In terms of collateral damage, approximately 100,000 marine creatures and 1 million sea birds are found dead due to plastic entanglement and subsequent suffocation. Additionally, toxins from decomposed plastic are introduced to ecological systems that humans often manipulate for food.

A biological approach to resolving this disparity is favorable because of its practicality and efficiency. Different approaches to achieving our goal would be costly, as manual labor would have to be largely effectuated to accommodate a massive amount of space. Furthermore, inspired by the unprecedented bacteria, Ideonella sakaiensis, that naturally decomposes polyethylene terephthalate, we decided to genetically modify E. coli cells to model the similar plastic degradation process; we did this by adding the Lipase and Chlorogenate Esterase (from Ideonella sakaiensis) genes into the genome of the subsequent bacterial cells.

Through the E. coli bacteria, the enzymes introduced to their genome are able to express the plastic-decomposing protein and their cleansing properties can be effectively distributed throughout substantial bodies of water. This particular proposition can realistically be executed because of the minimal effort and financial advantage it presents. Contemporary government-enacted programs are somewhat effective in clearing up water pollution and with this, an estimated $44,000,000.00 is annually required to sustain these efforts; if successful, the possibilities and possible applications are endless! Manipulating E. coli for the treatment of pollution would be elementary, as their procreation would ensure the continuity of the genetically engineered genes.

With this being said, in terms of applications, our genetically engineered E. coli has the potential to change the way plastic is disposed for the long, foreseeable, future. Our bacteria could be incorporated into a filtration system built onto the bottom of a boat, installed so that it resides in a recycling-bin/garbage-disposal specialized for PET plastics, or even cultured so that it can reside within the confinement of industrial plants for the quick degeneration of excess plastic. Additionally, the remnants of such process can be manipulated for use as a precursor for a multitude of uses- primarily fuel. The possibilities are endless!.

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Improving the function previously existing BioBrick Part from the Broad Creek iGem Team

Broad Run, the iGem team that we worked with previously, designed a project where they would engineer yeast cells to produce and secrete a starch degrading enzyme, amylase. This would eliminate the formation of butyric acid formed in the ceiling tiles of a tile factory (Armstrong). They used a Kozak sequence (part BBa_K1871000), which aids in the initiation and facilitation of translation within the mRNA of eukaryotic cells. In order to improve this part, we could introduce a catalytic enzyme that would increase the rate at which translation occurs therefore increasing the production of yeast cells. If the amount of yeast cells increases, the amount of surface area covered by the yeast cells also increases, allowing for the elimination of butyric acid to occur on a larger scale.