Difference between revisions of "Team:York"

Line 14: Line 14:
 
<center><p> University of York is located in North Yorkshire, England. </p></center>
 
<center><p> University of York is located in North Yorkshire, England. </p></center>
  
−
<p> This year we have chosen to come up with a solution that targets the root of the problem of eutrophication - where too much phosphate in water bodies leads to algal blooms. These blooms disrupt local ecosystems by causing ‘dead zones’ which causes species loss. The input of wastewater and therefore phosphate into these bodies is a large contributing factor to the issue. Phosphate removal from wastewater is a considerable challenge that we hope to solve with biological agents as an alternative to chemical treatment. Our project builds upon the ideas of enhanced biological phosphate removal (EBPR) in which bacteria known as polyphosphate accumulating organisms (PAOs) in activated sludge acquire phosphate inside their cells. However these current microbiological tools are inefficient and we feel that designing a bacterium to remove phosphate will be much better suited to the task.</p>
+
<p> We are working to lessen the eutrophication effects of downstream runoff from wastewater treatment plants. How?
 +
by engineered <em>Escherichia coli</em> to efficiently uptake phosphate out of wastewater. By using genes from specialised "Phosphate Accumulating Organisms" (PAOs), we are able to increase the efficiency of <em>E. coli<em>. This process is already used in enhanced biological phosphate removal (EBPR). By using <em>E. coli<em> to accumulate the phosphate, we can also integrate genes to make the bacteria float to the top of the bioreactor and have the bacteria skimmed off. Once the bacteria is in a separate tank, genes can be induced to export the phosphate which can be re-cycled and sold, and the bacteria recycled back into the bioreactors to continue phosphate removal. </p>
 +
  
−
<p>Our team is working on exploiting the natural abilities of Escherichia coli to uptake phosphate. By studying its phosphate metabolism, we aim to improve E.coli‘s phosphate uptake from the environment and therefore engineer a bacterium that can be used as a better alternative to the current methods used by wastewater facilities. For this our team is looking into the genes responsible for phosphate transport and polyphosphate kinases (PPK) to allow the luxury uptake of phosphate into the E.Coli cells. We plan also to borrow genes from different organisms to enhance the natural bioremediation processes that already exist in our model. By the end of the summer we hope to have created a bacterium both efficient and stable for high levels of phosphate uptake.</p>
 
−
<p>We envisage our project to be a part of many future applications relating to the uptake and recovery of phosphate, with the possibility of being integrated by industry and with other projects. </p>
 
  
 
<div id="twitter"><center>
 
<div id="twitter"><center>

Revision as of 12:56, 8 September 2015

Hello, We are the iGEM team representing the University of York!

University of York is located in North Yorkshire, England.

We are working to lessen the eutrophication effects of downstream runoff from wastewater treatment plants. How? by engineered Escherichia coli to efficiently uptake phosphate out of wastewater. By using genes from specialised "Phosphate Accumulating Organisms" (PAOs), we are able to increase the efficiency of E. coli. This process is already used in enhanced biological phosphate removal (EBPR). By using E. coli to accumulate the phosphate, we can also integrate genes to make the bacteria float to the top of the bioreactor and have the bacteria skimmed off. Once the bacteria is in a separate tank, genes can be induced to export the phosphate which can be re-cycled and sold, and the bacteria recycled back into the bioreactors to continue phosphate removal.

Find us at

facebook logo iGEM York 2015 Facebook page

instagram logo   iGEM York 2015 Instagram account

  Please donate to us via YuStart