Team:Stanford-Brown/Description
What should this page contain?
- A clear and concise description of your project.
- A detailed explanation of why your team chose to work on this particular project.
- References and sources to document your research.
- Use illustrations and other visual resources to explain your project.
This summer, our team has been working towards building a sensing balloon made of biomaterials. Traditionally balloons have been ideal tools for atmospheric research: they can track weather patterns and monitor atmospheric composition. Our bioballoon could be used to traverse long distances and collect data in hard-to-reach places on other planets, complementing a rover's capabilities. The bioballoon could be “grown” and re-grown with the same bacteria, dramatically reducing the cost of transport and production.
We have been engineering bacteria to produce balloon membrane polymerswith different properties of strength and elasticity. We have used algae to produce biological hydrogen that could inflate the balloon. We have engineered bacteria to produce radiation resistant materials that would increase balloon durability. Finally, we have been working on biological thermometers and small molecule sensors that could attach to our balloon's surface. Together, these projects could create a novel scientific instrument: cheap, light, durable, and useful to planetary scientists.
Our balloon is not just for outer space. It can be used to collect data on Earth, as well. Each of our balloon subcomponents has independent applications. For example, this summer we made a biological thermometer sticker that changes color when placed on a hot flask. We also successfully engineered bacteria to produce natural latex.
To see more, visit our main page here!
Advice on writing your Project Description
We encourage you to put up a lot of information and content on your wiki, but we also encourage you to include summaries as much as possible. If you think of the sections in your project description as the sections in a publication, you should try to be consist, accurate and unambiguous in your achievements.
Judges like to read your wiki and know exactly what you have achieved. This is how you should think about these sections; from the point of view of the judge evaluating you at the end of the year.
References
iGEM teams are encouraged to record references you use during the course of your research. They should be posted somewhere on your wiki so that judges and other visitors can see how you thought about your project and what works inspired you.
Inspiration
See how other teams have described and presented their projects:
This summer, our team has been working towards building a sensing balloon made of biomaterials. Traditionally balloons have been ideal tools for atmospheric research: they can track weather patterns and monitor atmospheric composition. Our bioballoon could be used to traverse long distances and collect data in hard-to-reach places on other planets, complementing a rover's capabilities. The bioballoon could be “grown” and re-grown with the same bacteria, dramatically reducing the cost of transport and production.
We have been engineering bacteria to produce balloon membrane polymerswith different properties of strength and elasticity. We have used algae to produce biological hydrogen that could inflate the balloon. We have engineered bacteria to produce radiation resistant materials that would increase balloon durability. Finally, we have been working on biological thermometers and small molecule sensors that could attach to our balloon's surface. Together, these projects could create a novel scientific instrument: cheap, light, durable, and useful to planetary scientists.
Our balloon is not just for outer space. It can be used to collect data on Earth, as well. Each of our balloon subcomponents has independent applications. For example, this summer we made a biological thermometer sticker that changes color when placed on a hot flask. We also successfully engineered bacteria to produce natural latex.
To see more, visit our main page here!
