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From 2011.igem.org

April 27th:

After reading a paper about how yeast copes with toxic metals in its environment, we found out that Cup-1 can not only detect copper, but can also detect other heavy metals such as cadmium, mercury, silver, and chromium. So we researched these metals, and deduced that cadmium is a much bigger environmental problem than the other metals. Therefore, we decided that it would make more sense to engineer a cadmium water tester rather than a copper water tester. We researched many different points about cadmium pollution, and learned a great deal about the severity of the problem. We learned that it is caused by the leaking of cadmium batteries and electronic equipment in landfills, which are then leaked out into the environment. Cadmium pollution can also be caused by the by-products of industrial processes and the actual miining of cadmium itself. We also discovered it is a global problem. It affects China, India, many countries of Africa, and even right here in the United States.

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