Team:Brown-Stanford/REGObricks/Overview

From 2011.igem.org

REGObricks
Intro --------------------- ISRU --------------------- Biocement --------------------- S. pasteurii --------------------- Balloon
Flights --------------------- Transforming --------------------- Biobrick²
PowerCell
Intro --------------------- Cyanobacteria --------------------- Mars --------------------- Nutrients
FRETcetera
Intro --------------------- FRET etc. --------------------- Construct
Lab
Team --------------------- Parts --------------------- Notebook --------------------- Protocols --------------------- Safety
Partners
Collab --------------------- Sponsors
Outreach
SB5.0 --------------------- NASA --------------------- Lunar Science --------------------- Maker Faire --------------------- BBC --------------------- CBricks --------------------- Ethics --------------------- Regional
Jamboree

Project Overview

Rather than using materials shipped up from Earth, it is more cost-effective to use the on site regolith to create the solid structures needed for long-term stay on Mars. REGObricks uses bacterium Sporosarcina pasteurii, which excretes ammonia and carbonate as byproducts of the urease reaction, to create calcium carbonate crystals that bind the regolith particles to form a brick with compressive strength comparable to concrete. In addition to making bricks using the biocementation process, we will evaluate the space-worthiness of S. pasteurii as well as being making a toolkit to standardize this bacterium to current synthetic biology standards.