Team:Baltimore BioCrew

Saving the Baltimore Inner Harbor

Is E. coli the answer?

OVERVIEW: Plastics are a waste product that pollutes the environment we live in and many resolutions have been implemented with little long term success, such as Mr. Trash wheel, a water wheel that collects waste in Baltimore’s inner harbor, and laws prohibiting the act of littering. Researchers found a bacterium in 2014, known as Ideonella Sakaiensis, that is able degrade poly ethylene terephthalate (PET) plastics by using two enzymes. In order to investigate, we obtained the two enzymes used in Ideonella Sakaiensis, PETase and MHETase, and inserted the enzymes into E. coli plasmids and then put the plasmids into E. coli cells. We expect the bacteria to degrade PET plastic at a rate of 1-3 weeks and produce a by product that is benign to organisms and a possible energy source. The Baltimore BioCrew ntends to use these engineered plastic-eating E. coli to degrade PET plastic in our Chesapeake Bay without disrupting ecosystems and marine life.

Sponsors

Family League of Baltimore
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VWR Foundation
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