Team:Cambridge/Brainstorm
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Coming up with an actual 'big idea' looks to be one of the hardest parts, so it seems to be a good idea to get as many wacky ideas down on paper / up on the web as possible, and now seems like a good time to start. | Coming up with an actual 'big idea' looks to be one of the hardest parts, so it seems to be a good idea to get as many wacky ideas down on paper / up on the web as possible, and now seems like a good time to start. | ||
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==Cool Ideas== | ==Cool Ideas== | ||
In no particular order. Please add in explanation / expansion as you feel necessary.<br> | In no particular order. Please add in explanation / expansion as you feel necessary.<br> |
Revision as of 09:11, 15 July 2011
Coming up with an actual 'big idea' looks to be one of the hardest parts, so it seems to be a good idea to get as many wacky ideas down on paper / up on the web as possible, and now seems like a good time to start.
Contents |
Cool Ideas
In no particular order. Please add in explanation / expansion as you feel necessary.
Seeing as none of us are really sure of the boundaries, don't worry about making silly suggestions!
Carbon Sequestration
i.e Removing carbon from the atmosphere
Catalytic Converters / Removing chemicals from emissions
Current catalytic converters use a platinum catalysts - quite expensive.
Water Treatment / Filtration
Or even a way of detecting whether water is contaminated or not.
Soil Fertilisation / Monitoring
Release of Nitrogen when necessary
Plastic degradation
decompose plastic bags/speed up the degradation process
Hydrogen producing bacteria
Malaria Diagnosis (or other diseases)
Many diseases are hard to diagnose in the field - they require at least rudimentary lab skills & equipment. EDIT: for Malaria, devices exist for the use in the field but are not very sensitive
Curing Cholera
(I may have to leave this explanation to a biologist.)
Diabetes
Implant to release insulin on demand based on blood sugar levels.
Working with GMOs
In our brainstorming we considered safety from the start. Working with genetically modifies organisms (GMOs) poses potential risks -- not just to ourselves -- in a number of ways. Here are some potential 'dangerous experiments':
- Demonstrate how to render a vaccine ineffective
- Confer resistance to clinically useful antibiotics or antivirals
- Enhance virulence of a pathogen or activate a non-pathogen
- Increase transmissability of a pathogen
- Alter the host range of a pathogen
- Enable the evasion of a diagnostic technique
- Develop a biological agent that has potential to be used as a weapon
In our preliminary work we used E. coli strain K12, which is multiply disabled and non-pathogenic. However, highly virulent strains of E. coli do exist and so the concerns outlined above are especially relevant, and led us to reject a number of project proposals.