Difference between revisions of "Team:BGU ISRAEL/Integrated Practices"

Revision as of 21:27, 19 October 2016

PlastiCure

Human Practices

PlastiCure team chose to focus on developing an effective solution for plastic pollution, a major environmental concern that holds a threat on the future existence of earth. Due to the destructive effects plastic has on the environment, we did not limit our effort only for synthetic biology solution. We took many measures to raise awareness and promote a change in plastic consumption believing that societies can make a difference and create an impact on plastic consumption. We reached the public both in our local community and national community as well as international one.

At first we acquired extensive knowledge about the plastic waste problem and the disadvantage of the current solutions. Then, we focused on passing this knowledge to the general public, through public engagement and various media channels. You can learn more about our work below.

Plastic Art

Policies

Acquiring Knowledge

As an initial step to solve the plastic waste problem, we read the literature, learned what have already been done and met with several experts in different aspects of plastic waste: Prof. Alex Sivan, a scientist from the Ben-Gurion University who is an expert in microbial degradation of plastic waste. We consulted Prof. Sivan about our approach to a new solution for plastic degradation and learned that LC-Cutinase is an enzyme that is known for his ability to break PET bonds into two monomers: ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. After learning about the LC-Cutinase, and making a comprehensive research about its properties we decided to focus on improving its PET degrading activity.

Next, we consulted Dr. Sarel Fleishman, a scientist from Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, who is expert in computational protein design to improve enzyme activity. Dr. Fleishman helped us design the LC-Cutinase variants in order to improve its activity. We used his recently published algorithm- PROSS (Netzer and Fleishman, Science 2016), and designed rational mutations to make a thermodynamic stable protein. We found that the coding optimized as well as few variants improved the LC-Cutinase activity and its ability to degrade PET. At the same time, we investigated the metabolic pathway that is required for our project. We found that the Pseudomonas putida bacterium has the qualities and requirements to engineer for a biodegradation product. We contacted Prof. Victor De Lorenzo, who uses advanced molecular biology and genetic engineering of microorganisms, like P. Putida, for biomonitoring and bioremediation. Prof. De Lorenzo contributed from his extensive knowledge and sent us the pSEVA plasmids that suitable for genetic engineering of P. Putida. We also contacted Prof. Dan Tawfik and Dr. Halim Jubran from the Department of Bimolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, who provided the P. Putida KT 2440.

In addition we met Prof. Amir Aharoni and Dr. Shimon Bershtein, two scientists from our university who are expert in protein engineering who study and improve complex biological processes. They advised us how to design the metabolic pathways in P.putida and provide important advices about genetic engineering. Finally, we discussed our plan and the project's design with our PIs concluding the valuable information to start wet lab work on our project.

Furthermore, we done a comprehensive investigation of plastic's implications in order to learn and be able to raise awareness of the plastic hazard. Throughout the project, we met experts from the industry who utilize plastic in its raw state - Coca-Cola Company, Genome compiler and many more. We have learned about plastic's convenient properties such as flexibility, rigidity and lucidity that make plastic a popular raw material in the industry.

Finally, we aimed to learn about the current solutions for plastic waste. We visited several leading industrial companies, such as 'Neot Hovav- eco industrial park', 'Aviv- Recycling Industries' and 'ADAMA Agricultural Solutions' to learn about their way of dealing with plastic waste. By visiting at Aviv recycling company, we saw and learned the process of plastic recycling – from the arrival of the plastic bottle to the plant to its reduction into raw plastic material made for the creation of other products. One of the most interesting and important things we have learned is that 99% of the recycled raw plastic material is being used for products that cannot be recycled again. Discovering that the current recycling process produces plastic waste that is not recyclable was eye opener, as it emphasizes the unmet need for biodegradation of plastic waste.

With the acquired knowledge, the magnitude of damage of plastic waste, and it became clear to us that we must find an effective and fast solution to deal with this problem.

Public Outreach

After we extended our knowledge about plastic, we wanted to raise the awareness of the public to the disadvantages of current solutions for plastic waste and to encourage reduction of plastic consumption. Using social media, such as Facebook, twitter and Instagram, we reached thousands of people by posting daily news about environment and plastic waste. For example, we shared a post regarding waste that was discarded by travelers in the river Jorden, encouraging followers to pay attention and keep the environment clean. We also posted updates about the progress of our project, upcoming events and answered people's questions and concerns.

In order to raise the awareness, several articles about our project got published both in local and national newspapers. We also used these article as an opportunity to talk about synthetic biology and about how iGEM's attributes to science and research. These articles helped us to further spread our project's importance, and to reach people outside of our local circle. For example, 'Haaretz', Israel's oldest newspaper, , published an article that described the environmental concerns and our research goal to develop a cure to plastic waste. This article was published both in Hebrew and English editions that get exposure in many countries and got many responses.

For example, Queen Noor Al Hussein twitted about the article and expressed support on our project.

To expand awareness, we also participated in a radio show talking about environmental issues. South Radio Channel interviewed us about the current situation regarding plastic waste, treatment, and the unmet need of biosynthetic solution.

Using the gaming platform and youtube cannels, we made a fun computer game and animation video in order to increase the exposure of our project around the world. The computer game demonstrates our idea as a simple task, which a bacteria eating plastic parts by shooting them. Because the mission is not that easy, we made the game in a medium-high level of difficulty. If you lose the game, a picture of ocean full of plastic waste is shown. We sent the game to all iGEM groups along with our project description and ask the players to spread it to their friends. We also uploaded the game to our website and our social media accounts that can be found here

The animation video we created presents our project in attractive and simple way. The purpose of the video was to make the scientific part of our project, accessible to the public, especially for people that are not familiar with synthetic biology. Furthermore, we use this video as an opportunity to show how scientists can solve world-wide problems with synthetic biology tools.

Every year, our university hosts a 'Green Campus' competition that search for the most innovative idea that will help make a cleaner environment. This year, we decided to apply with our PlaticCure project. We presented our work and won the best project among the B.Sc. students. We were honored to get the support and recognition from our university and decided to use the best project award for funding the PlastiCure's activities.

Public Engagement

In order to engage and educated the general public coming from diverse backgrounds and different ages, we participated and conducted four events. In each of those events participated hundreds of people who came to learn of our biodegradation of plastic waste and were encouraged to recycle and use plastic wisely. We explained about synthetic biology, protein engineering and advance biological tools that we used in order to evoke the crowd curiosity towards science.

"Osim Rehov / Making a Street" event:

On Wednesday May 25th, we participated in a community project called "Osim Rechov", in which the citizens of Be'er-Sheva, old and young, gather together to improve the communal space and the street's appearances. The PlastiCure team created together with students, children and adults from the neighborhood, an environmental sculpture using plastic bottles. We collected plastic bottles from our neighborhoods in Be'er-Shva during a whole month that was used to create colorful flowers that decorated the street. In this activity, we managed to use plastic waste and make it into an environmental permanent art.

In addition, we taught the children about plastic pollution and our solution by making an easy and fun game. We made a quiz in which the children had to answer questions about plastic facts. The children learned facts like the slow degradation of plastic and the damage it causes to marine life.

We also raised awareness to the plastic pollution among the "Osim Rechov" participants by passing brochures with information on our project and its purpose. We invited students into our lab and showed them tools, devices and some of our results to engage them in our project.

Board of Governors Meeting:

On Sunday June 5th, we participated in a night event in honor to the University's Board of Governors. At the event, we set up an exhibit booth and discussed our project with University's Board of Governors and accompanied members that came to this event from around the world. Many people came to listen and learn about the acute plastic pollution and plastic accumulation all over the world. We presented our solution and its advantages by playing a trivia game with the guests asking general questions about Be'er-Sheva, the university and plastic. In addition, we handed out recycling bags to encourage recycling.

"Lyla lavan / white night" event:

On Thursday August 25th, we took part in "White Night" event. This event happens once a year, allowing the public celebrate in the streets of Be'er-Sheva all night long, enjoying concerts performed by Israeli artists, shows, and booths set up by artists, venders and special projects.

We build a 'drop the bottle' game in the shape of our bacterium, P.putida. The game attracted both young and old, trying to drop the plastic bottles into the bacterium's mouth and win a prize. We aimed to attract people with the game and evoke their curiosity about plastic. Our game allowed us to interact with people of all ages and explain about plastic pollution, solutions and recycling.

As a new law was recently legislated that obligates the stores to charge for plastic bags forbidding them to hand free of charge plastic bags, we decided to hand out recycling bags with our PlastiCure logo as a prize, knowing they would be useful. Furthermore, this prize is expresses our support to the new law and will help to educate the public to be more environment friendly.

"Science with a beer" event:

On Sunday October 25th, we organized a "Science with a beer", a public environmental event in the local "Manga" bar". The concept of the event is well known to the Israeli public, where an expert lecturer talks about the field of interest. We hosted Ms.Yael Cohen-Paran, a member of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) to talk about her social-public activity in the field of environmental protection. Ms. Cohen-Paran is one of the founders of the "Green Movement" party and is the head and founder of "The Israeli Forum for Energy" that aims to advance the use of sustainable energy in Israel. In 2013, Cohen-Paran was chosen by "The Marker" post for one of "Israel's 100 most influential people".

Some 100 people participated in "Science with a beer" event that included cold beers and a lecture on her 20 years of work, devoting to the subject of environmental protection. The talk was followed by a discussion about audience environmental concerns. We learned about environmental hazards in the Negev area that we weren’t aware of and what we can do as citizens to help solve environmental issues.

Address:

Ben-Gurion University of the Negev
Ben Gurion 1, Beer Sheva 8410501, Israel

Mail: igembgu2016@gmail.com

Connect With Us!

@@ Line 75: / Line 75: @@
                      <hr>
                      <p class="overviewText">
-Our team, PlastiCure, chose to focus on developing an effective solution for plastic pollution, one of the major environmental concerns today,
+PlastiCure team chose to focus on developing an effective solution for plastic pollution, a major environmental concern that holds a threat on the future existence of earth. <b>Due to the destructive effects plastic has on the environment, we did not limit our effort only for synthetic biology solution. We took many measures to raise awareness and promote a change in plastic consumption</b> believing that societies can make a difference and create an impact on plastic consumption. We reached the public both in our local community and national community as well as international one.
-which holds a threat to wildlife and people alike. Due to the destructive effects of plastic to the environment, we did not limit our efforts to a synthetic biology solution, but took action to raise awareness and promote a change in plastic consumption.
-Because we believe that societies can make a difference and create an impact, we reached out to the public both in local and national communities as well as international ones. First, we acquired extensive knowledge about the plastic waste problem and the disadvantages of of current solutions.
-Then, we focused on passing this knowledge to the general public, through public engagement and various media channels. You can learn more about our work below.
                      </p>
+<p>
+At first we acquired extensive knowledge about the plastic waste problem and  the disadvantage of the current solutions. Then, we focused on passing this knowledge to the general public, through public engagement and various media channels. You can learn more about our work below.
+</p>
                  </div>
              </div>
@@ Line 113: / Line 113: @@
                      <div class="knowledgeText">
                          <p>
-                             In every science experiment, the first step is to gather information from Previous studied, and introducing the experiment
+                             As an initial step to solve the plastic waste problem, <b>we read the literature, learned what have already been done and met with several experts in different aspects of plastic waste:
-                            subject. We have met senior professors and researchers who focuses on different aspects of plastic waste.
+Prof. Alex Sivan</b>, a scientist from the Ben-Gurion University who is an expert in microbial degradation of plastic waste. We consulted Prof. Sivan about our approach to a new solution for plastic degradation and learned that LC-Cutinase is an enzyme that is known for his ability to break PET bonds into two monomers: ethylene glycol and terephthalic acid. After learning about the LC-Cutinase, and making a comprehensive research about its properties we decided to focus on improving its PET degrading activity.
                          </p>
                          <p>
-                            <b>Prop. Alex Sivan</b>, a researcher from our university that one of his research interests is Microbial degradation of
+Next, we consulted Dr. Sarel Fleishman, a scientist from Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute of Science, Israel, who is expert in computational protein design to improve enzyme activity. Dr. Fleishman helped us design the LC-Cutinase variants in order to improve its activity. We used his recently published algorithm- PROSS (Netzer and Fleishman, Science 2016), and designed rational mutations to make a thermodynamic stable protein. We found that the coding optimized as well as few variants improved the LC-Cutinase activity and its ability to degrade PET.
-                            plastic wastes. We consulted prop. Sivan about the enzyme we should work with. Along to wide Literature research, we have
+At the same time, we investigated the metabolic pathway that is required for our project. We found that the <i>Pseudomonas putida</i> bacterium has the qualities and requirements to engineer for a biodegradation product. We contacted <b>Prof. Victor De Lorenzo</b>, who uses advanced molecular biology and genetic engineering of microorganisms, like <i>P. Putida</i>, for biomonitoring and bioremediation.  Prof. De Lorenzo contributed from his extensive knowledge and sent us the pSEVA plasmids that suitable for genetic engineering of <i>P. Putida</i>.  We also contacted <b>Prof. Dan Tawfik</b> and <b>Dr. Halim Jubran</b> from the Department of Bimolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, who provided the <i>P. Putida</i> KT 2440.
-                            learned that LC - Cutinase is an enzyme who known for his ability to break PET bond into it monomers ethylene glycol and
-                            terephtalic acid, and we have noticed that there are an extend researches about LC - Cutinase attribute. From that point
-                            we decided to work with LC - Cutinase as the PET first bond breaker.
-                        </p>
-                        <p>
-                            We also consulted <b>Dr. Sarel Flaysman</b>, an investigator from Department of Biological Chemistry, Weizmann Institute
-                            of Science. We contact Dr. Flaysman in order to introduce him our project and to utilize his knowledge about proteins.
-                            Dr. Flaysman suggest us to use his algorithm- PROSS, who preform rational mutations in proteins and improve their activity
-                            by making them more thermodynamic stable.
-                        </p>
-                        <p>
-                            We met <b>Prof. Amir Aharoni</b>, a researcher from our university that focus in Protein Engineering for the study of complex
-                            biological processes. Prof. Aharoni helped us to apply our theoretical knowledge to lab terms.
-                        </p>
-                        <p>
-                            Meanwhile we also investigated the metabolic pathway part, we read lot of article and found out about the
-                            <i>Pseudomonas putida</i> bacterium and it qualitys. <b>Prop. De Lorenzo</b>, his research exploits advanced molecular
-                            biology and genetic engineering of microorganisms, like <i>P.Putida</i>, for the sake of biomonitoring, bioremediation
-                            etc. We contact him and ask about the <i>P.Putida</i> bacterium.
                          </p>
                          <p>
-                            Prop. De Lorenzo helped us a lot, and sent us pSEVA plasmids for <i>P.Putida</i> and refer us to <b>Prof. Dan Tawfik</b>
+In addition we met <b>Prof. Amir Aharoni</b> and <b>Dr. Shimon Bershtein</b>, two scientists from our university who are expert in protein engineering who study and improve complex biological processes. They advised us how to design the metabolic pathways in <i>P.putida</i> and provide important advices about genetic engineering. Finally, we discussed our plan and the project's design with our PIs concluding the valuable information to start wet lab work on our project.
-                            and <b>Dr. Halim Jubran</b>, Department of Bimolecular Sciences, Weizmann Institute of Science, which provided us
-                            <i>P.Putida</i> KT 2440.
-                        </p>
-                        <p>
-                            We also consulate <b>Dr. Shimon Bershtein</b>, Faculty of Natural Sciences, Ben-Gurion University of the Negev, about
-                            Assistance with <i>P.putida</i> resistances and genetic engineering. As we gather information about the metabolic pathway
-                            we moved to design our science research. Thus, we discuss our PIs for science advices and efficient work patterns.
-                        </p>
-                        <p>
-                            After we gather these Valuable information, we were ready to start the lab research.
-                        </p>
-                        <p>
-                            One of our major goals in the project was to raise awareness of the plastic hazard. Therefore, before we could pass our
-                            knowledge to others, we have done a comprehensive investigation of plastic's implications.
                          </p>
                          <p>
-                            Throughout the project we have met experts who deal with plastic as a raw material in industrial ways, the main ones was
+Furthermore, we done a comprehensive investigation of plastic's implications in order to learn and be able to raise awareness of the plastic hazard. Throughout the project, we met experts from the industry who utilize plastic in its raw state - <b>Coca-Cola Company, Genome compiler and many more</b>. We have learned about plastic's convenient properties such as flexibility, rigidity and lucidity that make plastic a popular raw material in the industry.
-                            - <b>Coca-Cola Company, Genome compiler and Carasso Science Park</b> . We have learned about plastic's convenient
-                            properties that makes him so popular and easy to use, such as- flexibility, rigidity, lucidity and much more.
                          </p>
                          <div class="row">
@@ Line 169: / Line 135: @@
                          </div>
                          <p>
-                            Finally, we aimed to get familiar with plastic waste degradation solutions. Therefore, we visit <b>'Neot Hovav- eco
+                           Finally, we aimed to learn about the current solutions for plastic waste. We visited several leading industrial companies, such as <b>'Neot Hovav- eco industrial park', 'Aviv- Recycling Industries'</b> and <b>'ADAMA Agricultural Solutions'</b> to learn about their way of dealing with plastic waste.  By visiting at Aviv recycling company, we saw and learned the process of plastic recycling – from the arrival of the plastic bottle to the plant to its reduction into raw plastic material made for the creation of other products. One of the most interesting and important things we have learned is that 99% of the recycled raw plastic material is being used for products that cannot be recycled again. Discovering that the current recycling process produces plastic waste that is not recyclable was eye opener, as it emphasizes the unmet need for biodegradation of plastic waste.
-                                industrial park', 'Aviv- Recycling Industries'</b> and <b>'ADAMA Agricultural Solutions'</b>. At our visit in Aviv
-                            recycling plant we saw and understood the process of plastic recycling – from the arrival of the plastic bottle to
-                            the plant, to transforming it to raw material for other products.
-                            One of the most interesting and important things we've learned during the tour is that 99% of the raw material (the output
-                            of the recycle process) is than used to producing products that cannot go through the recycle process again. It was here,
-                            that we really understood the enormous damage lies in plastic waste and that we have to find a different solution to deal with this problem.
                          </p>
                          <div class="row">
@@ Line 186: / Line 146: @@
                          </div>
                          <p>
-                            The investigate process we have done helped us understand how major and severe the issue of accumulate of plastic waste is.
+With the acquired knowledge, the magnitude of damage of plastic waste, and it became clear to us that we must find an effective and fast solution to deal with this problem.
-                            This increase our motivation to work harder in order to find an efficient solution.
                          </p>
                      </div>
@@ Line 201: / Line 160: @@
                      <div class="outreachText">
                          <p>
-After we extended our knowledge, we turned to pass it to the public. Using social media and several public events, we set a goal to reach as many people as possible, in order to raise awareness to the disadvantages of current solution for plastic waste, and by that to encourage people to control the consumption of plastics.
+After we extended our knowledge about plastic, we wanted to raise the awareness of the public to the disadvantages of current solutions for plastic waste and to encourage reduction of plastic consumption. Using social media, such as <b>Facebook, twitter</b> and <b>Instagram</b>, we reached thousands of people by posting daily news about environment and plastic waste. For example, we shared a post regarding waste that was discarded by travelers in the river Jorden, encouraging followers to pay attention and keep the environment clean. We also posted updates about the progress of our project, upcoming events and answered people's questions and concerns.
                          </p>
                          <p>
-We have managed to reach many people on <b>Facebook, twitter</b> and <b>Instagram</b>, were we posted daily about local and world news regarding environment and plastic waste, updates about our project, and much more. We used those platforms to spread the word about upcoming events, answer people questions and promote our goal.
+In order to raise the awareness, several articles about our project got published both in local and national newspapers. We also used these article as an opportunity to talk about synthetic biology and about how iGEM's attributes to science and research. These articles helped us to further spread our project's importance, and to reach people outside of our local circle. For example, 'Haaretz', Israel's oldest newspaper, , <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/science/.premium-1.747450" >published an article </a>that described the environmental concerns and our research goal to develop a cure to plastic waste. This article was published both in Hebrew and English editions that get exposure in many countries and got many responses.
-                        </p>
-                        <p>
-In the past few months, both local and national newspapers published articles about our project. The publications helped us to further spread our project's importance, and to reach new people outside of the local circle. A big moment in our project was when 'Haaretz', Israel's oldest newspaper, <a href="http://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/science/.premium-1.747450" >published an article </a>regarding our project, in both its Hebrew and English editions.
-                        </p>
-                        <p>
-                              In the interview, we discussed our environmental concern and our research and final goal. We also saw it as an opportunity to talk about synthetic biology and about how iGEM's attributes to science and research.
                          </p>
                          <div class="row">
@@ Line 221: / Line 174: @@
                          </div>
                          <p>
-  After the article was published, Queen Noor twitted about the article and expressed support for our project.
+  For example, Queen Noor Al Hussein twitted about the article and expressed support on our project.
                          </p>
                          <div class="row">
@@ Line 227: / Line 180: @@
                              <div class="col-lg-6">
                                  <img class="outreachPics" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/0/05/QueenFollowBGU.png">
-                            </div>
-                        </div>
-                        <p>
-Every year, our university hosts a 'Green Campus' competition. Any student with an innovative idea concerning the environment can apply. This year, we decided to apply and present our project, and won first place among all B.Sc. students who participated. It was a big honor for us to get the university recognition and support.
-                        </p>
-                        <div class="row">
-                            <div class="col-lg-6">
-                                <img class="outreachPics" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/f/f5/GreenCampBGU1.jpg">
-                            </div>
-                            <div class="col-lg-6">
-                                <img class="outreachPics" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/7/75/GreenCampBGU2.jpg">
                              </div>
                          </div>
 <p>
-In order to expand the circle of our supporters, we participated in a radio show concerned with environmental issues. South Radio Channel hosts the show, and there we discussed the current situation regarding plastic treatment, and the necessity of a biosynthetic solution.
+To expand awareness, we also participated in a radio show talking about environmental issues. South Radio Channel interviewed us about the current situation regarding plastic waste, treatment, and the unmet need of biosynthetic solution.
 </p>
-<p>To make
+<p>Using the gaming platform and youtube cannels, we made a fun <b>computer game</b> and <b>animation video</b> in order to increase the exposure of our project around the world. The computer game demonstrates our idea as a simple task, which a bacteria eating plastic parts by shooting them. Because the mission is not that easy, we made the game in a medium-high level of difficulty. If you lose the game, a picture of ocean full of plastic waste is shown. We sent the game to all iGEM groups along with our project description and ask the players to spread it to their friends. We also uploaded the game to our website and our social media accounts that can be found <a href=" http://bgu-plastikiller.netne.net "> here </a>
-                            our project more accessible we created a fun <b>computer game</b> and <b>animation video</b>. Those attracted and exposed
-                            many people to our goals. The computer game demonstrate our idea as a simple task, which a bacteria eating plastic parts by
-                            shooting them. Because the mission is not that easy, we made the game in a medium-high level of difficulty. If you lose the
-                            game, a picture of ocean full of plastic waste is shown. We sent the game to all iGEM groups along to our project description
-                            and ask them to spread it as much as they can. We also upload the game to our website and our social media accounts.
-                            You can check it out <a href=" http://bgu-plastikiller.netne.net "> here </a>
                          </p>
                          <div class="row">
@@ Line 260: / Line 195: @@
                          </div>
                          <p>
-The animation video we created presents our project in attractive and simple way. Our purpose was to make the science part of our project accessible- as most people are not familiar with the methods and biology we used, it was also an opportunity to show how scientists can solve world problem with synthetic biology tools.
+The animation video we created presents our project in attractive and simple way. The purpose of the video was to make the scientific part of our project, accessible to the public, especially for people that are not familiar with synthetic biology. Furthermore, we use this video as an opportunity to show how scientists can solve world-wide problems with synthetic biology tools.
                          </p>
                      <div class ="col-lg-10">
                          <video class="plasticureMovie" controls poster="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/d/d7/VideoPosterBGU.PNG">
@@ Line 269: / Line 202: @@
                          </video>
                      </div>
+ <p>
+Every year, our university hosts a 'Green Campus' competition that search for the most innovative idea that will help make a cleaner environment. This year, we decided to apply with our PlaticCure project. We presented our work and won the best project among the B.Sc. students. We were honored to get the support and recognition from our university and decided to use the best project award for funding the PlastiCure's activities.
+                        </p>
+                        <div class="row">
+                            <div class="col-lg-6">
+                                <img class="outreachPics" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/f/f5/GreenCampBGU1.jpg">
+                            </div>
+                            <div class="col-lg-6">
+                                <img class="outreachPics" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2016/7/75/GreenCampBGU2.jpg">
+                            </div>
+                        </div>
                      </div>
                  </div>
@@ Line 281: / Line 225: @@
                      <div class="engagementText">
                          <p class="engamenetPre">
-In order to engage and educated the general public from diverse backgrounds and different ages we participated and conduct 4 central events.
+In order to engage and educated the general public coming from diverse backgrounds and different ages, we participated and conducted four events. In each of those events participated hundreds of people who came to learn of our biodegradation of plastic waste and were encouraged to recycle and use plastic wisely. We explained about synthetic biology, protein engineering and advance biological tools that we used in order to evoke the crowd curiosity towards science.
-In each of those events participated hundreds of people who came to learn of our new solution to plastic waste and were reminded to recycle and use plastic wisely. We also explained about synthetic biology, protein engineering and advance biological tools that we used in order to evoke the crowd curiosity towards science.
                          </p>
-                         <h3><u>"osim rehov / making a street" event:</u></h3>
+                         <h3><u>"Osim Rehov / Making a Street" event:</u></h3>
                          <p>
-                             On Wednesday the 25th of May we participated in the "Osim Rechov" project. The "Osim Rechov" is a community project in which
+                             On Wednesday May 25th, we participated in a community project called "Osim Rechov",  in which the citizens of Be'er-Sheva, old and young, gather together to improve the communal space and the street's appearances. The PlastiCure team created together with students, children and adults from the neighborhood, an environmental sculpture using plastic bottles. We collected plastic bottles from our neighborhoods in Be'er-Shva during a whole month that was used to create colorful flowers that decorated the street. In this activity, we managed to use plastic waste and make it into an environmental permanent art.
-                            the citizens of Beer-Sheva, old and young gather together to improve the communal space and the street's appearances. The
-                            PlasticCure team created together with students, children and adults from the neighborhood, an environmental sculpture using
-                            plastic bottles. We collected plastic bottles from our neighborhoods in Be'er-Shva during a whole month; with them we created
-                            colorful flowers, and decorated the street. Making that activity we managed to use plastic waste and make it into an art that
-                            will be permanent.
                          </p>
                          <p>
-                             In addition to the plastic sculpture, we wanted to teach children in an easy and fun way on the plastic pollution and our new
+                             In addition, we taught the children about plastic pollution and our solution by making an easy and fun game. We made a quiz in which the children had to answer questions about plastic facts. The children learned facts like the slow degradation of plastic and the damage it causes to marine life.
-                            solution. Our way of passing it on was making a quiz in which the children had to answer questions about plastic facts.
                          </p>
                          <p>
-                            In order to raise awareness to the plastic pollution among the older public – students and neighborhood residents we passed
+                           We also raised awareness to the plastic pollution among the "Osim Rechov" participants by passing brochures with information on our project and its purpose. We invited students into our lab and showed them tools, devices and some of our results to engage them in our project.
-                            brochures with information on our project and its purpose. We also invited students into the lab showed them the tooles we
-                            are using in our lab and explained on our future plans.
                          </p>
                          <div class="row osimRechovPics">
@@ Line 320: / Line 255: @@
                          <h3><u>Board of Governors Meeting:</u></h3>
                          <p>
-                             On the 5th of June we participated in a night in honor of the University's Board of Governors. At the event we set up a
+                             On Sunday June 5th, we participated in a night event in honor to the University's Board of Governors. At the event, we set up an exhibit booth and discussed our project with University's Board of Governors and accompanied members that came to this event from around the world. Many people came to listen and learn about the acute plastic pollution and plastic accumulation all over the world. We presented our solution and its advantages by playing a trivia game with the guests asking general questions about Be'er-Sheva, the university and plastic. In addition, we handed out recycling bags to encourage recycling.
-                            stand in which we discussed our new evolutionary project with people gathered from around the world. Many people came to
-                            hear of the acute plastic pollution and plastic accumulation in the world and in Be'er-Sheva in particular. Alongside
-                            explaining of existing solutions we presented our new solution and its advantages over them. In our stand we played a trivia
-                            game with the guests asking general questions on our city and University and plastic. In addition we handed out recycling bags
-                            to encourage recycling.
                          </p>
                          <div class="row shoharimPics">
@@ Line 342: / Line 272: @@
                          <h3><u>"Lyla lavan / white night" event:</u></h3>
                          <p>
-                             On Thursday the 25th of august we took part in "White Night" event. This event happens once a year, allowing the public
+                             On Thursday August 25th, we took part in "White Night" event. This event happens once a year, allowing the public celebrate in the streets of Be'er-Sheva all night long, enjoying concerts performed by Israeli artists, shows, and booths set up by artists, venders and special projects.
-                            celebrate in the streets of Be'er-Sheva all night long, enjoying concerts performed by Israeli artists, shows, and stands
-                            set up by artists, venders and special projects.
                          </p>
                          <p>
-                             We build a 'drop the bottle' game in the shape of our bacterium, <i>P.putida</i>. The game attracted both young and old trying
+                             We build a 'drop the bottle' game in the shape of our bacterium, <i>P.putida</i>. The game attracted both young and old, trying to drop the plastic bottles into the bacterium's mouth and win a prize. We aimed to attract people with the game and evoke their curiosity about plastic. Our game allowed us to interact with people of all ages and explain about plastic pollution, solutions and recycling.
-                            to drop the plastic bottles into the bacterium's mouth and win a prize. We aimed to attract people with the game and arouse
-                            their curiosity with it. Our game allowed us to interact with people of all ages and explain about plastic pollution,
-                            our solution to it and the importance of recycling.
                          </p>
                          <p>
-                             The prizes were made of environmental friendly materials such as seeds and green recycle bags. The recycling bags had added
+                             As a new law was recently legislated that obligates the stores to charge for plastic bags forbidding them to hand free of charge plastic bags, we decided to hand out recycling bags with our PlastiCure logo as a prize, knowing they would be useful. Furthermore, this prize is expresses our support to the new law and will help to educate the public to be more environment friendly.
-                            value since that in the last month a new law was implemented. The new law obligates the stores to charge for plastic bags
-                            forbidding them to hand them freely. We decided to hand out recycling bags with our logo knowing they would come in handy
-                            along with that, that we truly support the new law and hope that it would help educate the public to be more environment friendly.
                          </p>
                          <div class="row whiteNightPics">
@@ Line 376: / Line 298: @@
                          <h3><u>"Science with a beer" event:</u></h3>
                          <p>
-                            On Sunday October 25th we organized a public environmental event in a local bar. The event's name was appropriately
+                           On Sunday October 25th, we organized a "Science with a beer", a public environmental event in the local "Manga" bar". The concept of the event is well known to the Israeli public, where an expert lecturer talks about the field of interest. We hosted Ms.Yael Cohen-Paran, a member of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) to talk about her social-public activity in the field of environmental protection. Ms. Cohen-Paran is one of the founders of the "Green Movement" party and is the head and founder of "The Israeli Forum for Energy" that aims to advance the use of sustainable energy in Israel. In 2013, Cohen-Paran was chosen by "The Marker" post for one of "Israel's 100 most influential people".
-                            named "Science with a beer", type of an event concept that is well known the Israeli public. In the event an expert lecturer
-                            or a public figure discuss about the field of his expertise.
-                        </p>
-                        <p>
-                            In our event, we hosted the Knesset member Yael Cohen - Paran to talk about her social - public activity in the field of Environmental protection.
-                            Cohen – Paran in one of the founders of the "Green Movement" party, the founder and head of "The Israeli Forum for Energy".
-                            The forums goal is advancing sustainable energy in Israel. In 2013 Cohen – Paran was chosen by TheMarker post for one of
-                            "Israel's 100 most influential people"
-                        </p>
-                        <p>
-                            Many people from different ages and background came to the event from Be'er-Sheva and its surroundings. The crowd enjoyed
-                            cold beer and listened to Cohen – Paran lecture on her 20 years of work and devotion to the subject of Environmental
-                            protection. We learned of environmental hazards in the Negev area we weren’t aware of and what we can do inorder to help
-                            solve them. At the end of the lecture people asked questions regarding Environmental protection issues and Cohen – Paran
-                            take on them.
                          </p>
                          <p>
-                             In the end of the lecture we presented our project and its relevance to one of the worst environmental pollutions Cohen – Paran
+                             Some 100 people participated in "Science with a beer" event that included cold beers and a lecture on her 20 years of work, devoting to the subject of environmental protection. The talk was followed by a discussion about audience environmental concerns. We learned about environmental hazards in the Negev area that we weren’t aware of and what we can do as citizens to help solve environmental issues.
-                            talked to us about - the plastic pollution.
                          </p>
                          <div class="row shoharimPics">