Welcome to the Imperial College London iGEM 2011 website

Project Outline

Engineering bacteria to help fight soil erosion

In arid areas of the world soil erosion is a massive problem. It is caused by wind and rain sweeping away the fertile top soil and can eventually result in desertification.

Climate change and unsustainable farming practices are accelerating the rate of desertification to over 31,000 hectares/day. That’s 62, 000 football pitches in a day or half the size of the UK every year.

In ordinary circumstances the roots of well established plants help to hold down the top soil, protecting it from erosion. In areas that suffer desertification however plants do not get the chance to establish large enough root networks to anchor the soil and themselves before erosion occurs.

This year, Imperial College’s iGEM team have joined the international effort to fight desertification.

We hope to engineer bacteria to accelerate plant root development. The bacteria will be designed to secrete the hormone auxin. Seeds will be coated with the bacteria and then planted in the soil. Once the seeds germinate the bacteria will move towards the roots and be taken in by the plant. Inside the roots the bacteria will release auxin – promoting growth and protecting the soil from erosion.

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