Difference between revisions of "Team:Aix-Marseille/Description"
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Finally, there are also various socio medical complications associated with platinum mining. Miners and workers are usually exposed to unsafe chemical substances and toxic fumes. Safety measures are often disregarded. An alternative solution to mining could help in the resolution of this issue. | Finally, there are also various socio medical complications associated with platinum mining. Miners and workers are usually exposed to unsafe chemical substances and toxic fumes. Safety measures are often disregarded. An alternative solution to mining could help in the resolution of this issue. | ||
| − | == | + | ==Our Solution using synthetic biology== |
*Concentrate the platinum accumulated in plants because of phytoremediation or in sludge in rainwater treatment centers. | *Concentrate the platinum accumulated in plants because of phytoremediation or in sludge in rainwater treatment centers. | ||
*Purify the Platinum from other metals or inorganic compounds. | *Purify the Platinum from other metals or inorganic compounds. | ||
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[[File:--File-T--Aix-Marseille--Nano.jpg|300px|center]] | [[File:--File-T--Aix-Marseille--Nano.jpg|300px|center]] | ||
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It is hard to imagine applying modern industrial methods as a solution for recycling the platinum in the soil of big highways. It would most certainly be very pollutive and a waste of energy, resources and time. | It is hard to imagine applying modern industrial methods as a solution for recycling the platinum in the soil of big highways. It would most certainly be very pollutive and a waste of energy, resources and time. | ||
But we think a biological solution is possible. We thought, that after all bacteria have evolutionary adaptations that allow them to internalise metals. If we could exploit these systems and target platinum specifically enough, we could find a durable, simple, cheap and environmentally friendly solution | But we think a biological solution is possible. We thought, that after all bacteria have evolutionary adaptations that allow them to internalise metals. If we could exploit these systems and target platinum specifically enough, we could find a durable, simple, cheap and environmentally friendly solution | ||
| − | + | The main goal of our project is to concentrate the platinum as much as possible. | |
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| + | The first step relies on the affinity of small organic molecules, siderophores, to bind solubilized Platinum atoms and thus favor the further solubilisation of more platinum compounds. We accomplish this by inserting a plasmid containing an operon with the four enzymes (Des A, Des B, Des C, Des D) necessary to synthesise our siderophore - Desferrioxamine B, into E. coli. | ||
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| + | As a second level of concentrating the platinum even more, we plan to use the principle of biosorption. A modified fliC protein complex will be cloned into E. coli and enable the flagella of the bacterium so that it can bind platinum atoms. This specificity will be possible thanks to a recently discovered peptide that will be inserted into the sequence of the fliC. The benefit of using the biosorption is to obtain nanoparticles of platinum, a highly valuable form of the metal. | ||
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