Difference between revisions of "Team:UNIK Copenhagen/Red Lab"

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<h2>Moss and the Mars Chamber </h2>
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Imagine being able to visit Mars on earth. With a press of a button you can change any variable, simulate any possible situation, and predict the future of Mars missions.  This is not science fiction, but is achieved in the Mars Environmental Chamber at the Niels Bohr Institute.
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The Mars Environmental Chamber simulates martian conditions in the laboratory and subjects samples to martian conditions.
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The variables that we have control over in the Mars Chamber are:
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Pressure: We can go as low as 1-7 mbars to simulate the low pressure of a martian atmosphere
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Atmospheric composition: We can simulate a martian atmosphere which unlike earth is made up of 98% CO2.
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Temperature: We can cause the same fluctuations in temperature that occurs on the surface of Mars: temperatures ranging from -120 degrees to 10 degrees
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UV radiation: By using a fluorescent lamp we can provide UV radiation between 200-400nm
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Our focus will be testing it in the following areas:  
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Since temperature fluctuates on all areas of mars, it is vital for the survival of our moss that we test its ability to survive scathing changes in temperatures.
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Making sure that moss can survive in soil containing perchlorate is a primary concern. Optimizing it do so increases the chances that the moss can detoxify martian soil and make it safe for astronauts. To test this will use two different mars simulated soils from Denmark and Hawaii containing different concentrations of perchlorate.
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The martian atmosphere is almost non-existent, having disappeared from the planet’s surface over billions of years a long with its magnetic field.Thus one of the greatest perils the moss will face is intense UV light, as there is no atmosphere to protect it. By changing the wavelength and intensity of UV light shining on the Mars Chamber we hope to see how we can optimise moss’s survival when exposed to UV light.
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<h1><font color="#DF3A01">Red</font> Lab </h1>
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<p> In Red Lab we experiment with and validate the work done by <a href="https://2015.igem.org/team:UNIK_Copenhagen/Green_Lab"><font color="green">Green</font> <font color="black">Lab</font></a>  <br></br>
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<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/0/07/UNIK_Copenhagen_cartoon.jpeg" width=50%></div>
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<p style="font-size:10.5px">Cartoon by Johanne Holm</p></div>
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<br><br>
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In the gloomy dark cellar of the H.C.Ørstad Institute stands a mysterious and unearthly machine. "Unearthly" being an apt word to describe it, for the machine can be used to simulate the martian environment on Earth. The machine is called the "Martian Environmental Chamber" (MEC) and is able to simulate the following variables of a martian environment: </p>
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<li>Atmosphere
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<li>Pressure
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<li>UV radiation
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<p>By placing the moss inside the MEC and changing one variable at a time we can test under which martian conditions moss can survive, and which conditions prove life threatening to the moss. You can read more about the MEC <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:UNIK_Copenhagen/Chamber"><font color="green">here.</font></a>
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<br></br>
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However the one thing that we cannot use the MEC to test is temperature: this is because the MEC is unable to go below zero degrees while we need to simulate martian temperatures that go well below zero during the night. Thus we have designed our own experiment in order to test moss's ability to survive at different temperatures which is described <a href="https://2015.igem.org/Team:UNIK_Copenhagen/Arduino"><font color="green">here.</font></a>
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<br></br>
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When the moss has been genetically modified to produce the anti-freeze protein, we want to test if this actually means that our moss is more resistant towards cold. To do this we had to build our completely own experiment from scratch: </p>
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<img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2015/9/95/UNIK_Copenhagen_moresetup.jpeg" width=60%></div>
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<p style="font-size:10.5px">Red lab temperature prototype</p></div>
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Latest revision as of 21:54, 17 September 2015


Red Lab

In Red Lab we experiment with and validate the work done by Green Lab

Cartoon by Johanne Holm



In the gloomy dark cellar of the H.C.Ørstad Institute stands a mysterious and unearthly machine. "Unearthly" being an apt word to describe it, for the machine can be used to simulate the martian environment on Earth. The machine is called the "Martian Environmental Chamber" (MEC) and is able to simulate the following variables of a martian environment:


  • Atmosphere
  • Pressure
  • UV radiation


    • By placing the moss inside the MEC and changing one variable at a time we can test under which martian conditions moss can survive, and which conditions prove life threatening to the moss. You can read more about the MEC here.

    However the one thing that we cannot use the MEC to test is temperature: this is because the MEC is unable to go below zero degrees while we need to simulate martian temperatures that go well below zero during the night. Thus we have designed our own experiment in order to test moss's ability to survive at different temperatures which is described here.

    When the moss has been genetically modified to produce the anti-freeze protein, we want to test if this actually means that our moss is more resistant towards cold. To do this we had to build our completely own experiment from scratch:



    Red lab temperature prototype