Team:IIT Delhi
Our Aim
We aim to genetically engineer bacteria and design a prototype of a device that converts harmful components of exhaust gases (i.e NOx and SOx) coming out of chimneys of various industries and car exhausts into harmless byproducts.
We aim to genetically engineer E.coli and equip it with the genes to synthesize nitrite reductase enzyme NrfA and CysI (sulfite reductase) and Sqr (Sulfide Quinone reductase) enzymes. NrfA reduces NOx to ammonia (NH3) while Cys1 and Sqr reduce sulphur dioxide (SO2) to hydrogen sulfide (H2S) and H2S to sulfur(S) respectively. These would be immobilized on polymer beads that have a positive zeta potential and placed in a bioreactor. The bacteria will reduce the oxides present in the incoming gas stream and consequently the percentage of oxides of nitrogen and sulfur in the outgoing gas stream will be significantly lower.