IGEM:NYMU/2012

Venus Marvel

Venus Marvel

Nowadays, pollution spreads through the world and our environment is deteriorating day by day. Our project is mainly about the removal of several pollutants, including nitrogen oxides, sulfur oxides and carbon oxides, from exhaust air and waste water. We planned to cultivate a special strain of genetically engineered cyanobacteria. With reductases metabolizing nitrogen, sulfur and carbon oxides, our organisms reduce three major pollutants in the modern day. Furthermore, we also focus on the removal of cadmium ions from soil. We tried to engineer E.coli to gain better capability of collecting cadmium ions. In fact, our engineered E.coli could stay inside of Dictyostelium discoideum, which allows us to build a biosafety system to make sure our GMOs won't become another threat to the environment. Combining our engineered cyanobacteria and the concept of endosymbiosis, we grant eukaryotes, ultimately human being, the ability to colonize Venus and expand our territory.

Our Goal

We planned to cultivate a special strain of genetically engineered cyanobacteria. With reductases metabolizing nitrogen, sulfur and carbon oxides, our organisms reduce three major pollutants in the modern day. Furthermore, we also focus on the removal of cadmium ions from soil.Combining our engineered cyanobacteria and the concept of endosymbiosis, we grant eukaryotes, ultimately human being, the ability to colonize Venus and expand our territory.

Sulfur Oxide Terminator

Overview

Sulfur Oxides (SOX, SO2) is the main precursors of air pollution which is a deteriorating problem nowadays. Producing acid rain and acidified soils, Sulfur Oxides not only result in breathing problems such as asthma, pneumonia, but destroy farm crops, buildings and environment, causing millions in lost each year.

In order to achieve bioremediation, we choose cyanobacteria as our target organ. However, there is no rose without thorn. Due to lost sulfur metabolism functions, We use synthetic biology and gene cloning technique to complete sulfur metabolism pathway inside cyanobacteria.

Becoming Venusian

Overview Are there Venusian? Is it possible that there are creatures living on the Venus? Dreams will come true by the symbiosis of cyanobacteria and eukaryotes. Cyanobacteria obtain their energy by photosynthesis. Sulfide-dependent photosynthesis cyanobacteria could resist the harmful environment and do the electron transport by sulfide quinine reductase(SQR), which we cloned previously. Additionally, references revealedwhen engineered with invasin(inv) fromYersiniapestis and listeriolysin O(llo) from Listeria monocytogenes, S. elongates was able to invade cultured mammalian cells. The symbiosis possibility of induced pluripotent stem cells from mice and J774 mouse macrophage cell line were evaluated. Results showed that invasin(inv,from Yersiniapestis) and listeriolysin O(llo, from Listeria monocytogenes) transformation would raise the entry speed and escape rate in J774 mouse macrophage cell line, and would increase the recruitment of cyanobacteria on induced pluripotent stem cells.