Team:TzuChiU Formosa/Project

Photo-Paper

Abstract

For most countries, paper-making has been a traditional but indispensable industry. Wood pulp is the major raw material for paper-making ,moreover,the complicated processes toward paper-making may contribute to environmental pollution. Acetobacter xylinum is a bacterium which produces bacterial cellulose. It has an acs operon, consisting of genes that called acsAB, acsC, and acsD. These genes interact with each other and synthesize cellulose synthase, an enzyme that transforms UDP-glucose into cellulose. What we want to do is to choose cyanobacteria which provides glucose through photosynthesis. Therefore, we want to use cyanobacteria as the host, then introduce the acs operon genes in it and produce bacterial cellulose by expressing this series of genes. With manufacturing processes, we believe this project can develop into a new and eco-friendly technology of papermaking.

Project Details

Part 2

The Experiments

Part 3

Results

idea2:CO killer

Abstract

CO is produced and emitted by incomplete burning of fuel, such as propane, kerosene, gasoline, oil, natural gas, wood and charcoal; and because Carbon Monoxide (CO) is odorless, tasteless and invisible – it’s a silent killer, people can be exposed to CO without even knowing it. However, CO poisoning is avoidable and preventable if the necessary safety measures are taken. The only safe way to know if carbon monoxide is present is to install carbon monoxide detectors. However, the devices available in the market are expensive and usually only able to detect Carbon Monoxide but unable to degrade it. Thus, we come up to an idea, a genetically modified bacterium which may degrade Carbon Monoxide to harmless Carbon Dioxide by emitting out light as signal. While on the other hand, the Carbon Dioxide collected can be used as biofuel. As we know, carboxydobacteria are able to oxidize CO (carbon monoxide) to CO2, using an enzyme CODH (carbon monoxide dehydrogenase). The carboxydobacteria are not obligate CO users, i.e., some are also hydrogen bacteria, and some are phototrophic bacteria. Interestingly, the enzyme CODH used by the carboxydobacteria to oxidize CO to CO2, therefore we would like to use the CODH and the operon system as the basis of our detector.

idea3:Helmersi Codon

Abstract

Since livestock arise, human can’t achieve a balance between starvation and environmental egis. There is 70% of agricultural land used for livestock husbandry. That’s almost 30% of earth’s land area until now. Excepting this, the earth is facing the shortage of fresh water. It is estimated that there will have 64% of people living in the water shortage region in 2025. However, the amount of water for livestock husbandry has reached 50% of the world. Most of all, the emissions of greenhouse gases of livestock is 18% of the world. It is more than transportation. In order to decrease or even replace livestock husbandry, we aim to create a new food orientation: We just need to eat one thing and it can make up a deficiency of eight kinds of amino acids. We want to take the gene named ovalbumin to embed into the plasmid named pAMJ399 and use the p170 promoter to perform in the lactococcus lactis. After lactococcus lactis enter the human body, it will perform the protein on the outside of the cell membrane. Our future target hope to regulate the amount of the protein, make it become a new source of protein.