Difference between revisions of "Team:UrbanTundra Edmonton/Design"

Our project has two main goals. The first is the extraction, purification and concentration of ClO4⁻ from Martian soil, which we aim to achieve by using an activated charcoal column to bind perchlorate. ClO4⁻ is highly soluble in water. We are testing the idea that ClO4⁻ can be highly enriched and concentrated inexpensively using activated charcoal, as previously shown for a similar compound [ref 4. Insert here]. The second goal is the bioconversion of ClO4⁻ to oxygen using genetically engineered E. coli that can grow on colony bio-waste. We aim to use two enzymes, perchlorate reductase and chlorite dismutase, which break down perchlorate to chloride ions and oxygen. Our goal is to clone the three genes that code for these enzymes, from the soil bacterium Ideonella dechloratans [3], into an expression vector in E. coli to make perchlorate reductase and chlorite dismutase in the same cell. We have also developed a method for the recycling of Martian colony biowaste into a highly enriched media for bacterial growth. Our E. coli will be compatible for usage with both LB media and treated biowaste media.

(Why?) Stephen Hawking recognized that humans are like eggs in a basket - drop the basket and all is lost. Planet Earth is the basket, and over the long-term, a calamity - be it through climate change, disease, asteroid collisions, etc. - is a statistical certainty. Colonizing Mars is the first step in distributing the eggs to other baskets. However, colonies must be able to sustain themselves on what can be found locally. There isn’t much on Mars, but there is perchlorate, and that is why we feel that this project and others like it will contribute significantly to what is evolving into a major international effort. In short term, Mars missions will develop, and spin-off a range of creative technologies that will allow us all to live more comfortably, efficiently, and cleanly on planet Earth.