Difference between revisions of "Team:Hong Kong-CUHK/Description"

Revision as of 01:57, 14 July 2015

MNOPQ(Magnetic Nanoparticles on particular requirement)

Main idea

This project’s main idea is to produce nanoparticles with magnetic properties under certain requirement. Azotobacter vinelandii is used again because these bacteria can provide an intracellular anaerobic condition, which is needed for making the nanoparticles.

The magnetosome is a magnetic nanoparticle with size 30nm to 120nm which is a magnetite surrounded by magnetosome membrane (MM). It is originated from the magnetotactic bacteria called magnetospirllum gryphiswadense. Magnetosome serve as a navigational device in magnetotactic bacteria by interaction with magnetic field of the Earth.

Biomolecules, such as enzyme, antibody, can be immobilized on the magnetosome in some ways, so that biomolecules can be easily controlled by magnet. One way to immobilize biomolecules is genetically modifying the transmembrane protein on MM into protein-biomolecules fused protein. As the size of magnetosome much smaller that the size of artificial magnetic beads magnetosome has a greater surface area to volume ratio; more biomolecules can be immobilized.

Application

One application of our project is using magnetosome in removing heavy metal ion in water. In China, water pollution is serious. 1.6 million tons of e-wastes per year are produced in China since 1990s. Different kinds of heavy metal ions such as Pb, Cu, Ni…etc, are found in the marine system, with lead being one of the major metals in e-waste recycling sites. The exposure of lead could have negative impact on brain development. By using magnetosome and immobilizeing different heavy metal binding proteins onto it, different kinds of heavy metal ions can be immobilized and be easily removed from the water by magnet. This novel method is better than the previous recent methods, regarding the operating cost, efficiency and eco-friendliness. It keeps the water in high quality for large demand in population.

The second application is adding antibodies on magnetosome for immunoprecipitation. Due to the smaller size of magnetosome than traditional magnetic beads, magnetosome with antibodies probably have a higher binding efficiency. Also, the antibodies added magnetosome can be mass-produced in bacteria.

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References

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Inspiration

See how other teams have described and presented their projects:

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 Biomolecules, such as enzyme, antibody, can be immobilized on the magnetosome in some ways, so that biomolecules can be easily controlled by magnet. One way to immobilize biomolecules is genetically modifying the transmembrane protein on MM into protein-biomolecules fused protein. As the size of magnetosome much smaller that the size of artificial magnetic beads magnetosome has a greater surface area to volume ratio; more biomolecules can be immobilized.</p>
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 <h5>Application</h5>