User:Rotter

Registration/Questionnaire: 20.109 Fall 2007

• Last Name: Rotter
• First Name: Juliana
• Preferred Name: Juliana
• Course: 20 Minor: 15
• Class Year: 2009
• Phone number: 415.596.5469
• e-mail address: rotter at mit dot edu

Have you taken

• 7.05/5.07 (Biochemistry) Yes
• 7.06 (Cell Biology) Currently enrolled
• 7.02 (General Biology Lab) No
• 5.310 (General Chemistry Lab) No

Research Experience

• Do you have any experience culturing cells (mammalian, yeast or microbial)? Limited

• Do you have any experience in molecular biology (electrophoresis, PCR, etc)? Yes

• Please briefly describe any previous laboratory experience: My high school biology lab included molecular biology experiments like electrophoresis and PCR. My favorite lab was sequencing my mitochondrial DNA. Freshman year, I worked in the Edelman lab harvesting and purifying protein. Although I do not remember as much information from these experiences as I should, I assume that background will help if only a little bit.

• Anything else you would like us to know?

Engineering Ideas

I	Tag with GFP to chart cell growth and modify to assemble a longer M13 with more VIII expression for a better wire.
II	Replicate more VIII to create a better wire. Potentially create a second copy of VIII for increased coat protein production.
III	Modify to bond with VII.
IV	See I.
V	Tag with GFP to understand function better.
VI	Modify to bond with IX.
VII	Modify to bond with III.
VIII	Modify to bond with iron. III and VII will bind to create a living wire capable of conduction electricity.
IX	Modify to bond with VI.
X	See II.
XI	See I.
	*This will create a living wire capable of conducting electricity.
	*Another idea is to create a bacteriophage that the human body will accept whose outter proteins can mimic hormones that stimulate cell death and inject them into a tumor. Insure that cell death is extremely controlled else somatic healthy cells will die.

Research Proposal

Proposed Project: Engineer bacteria to effectively desalinate water.

Bacteria harvested from salt mines in China were isolated and studied. Researchers could study these bacteria in depth, searching for qualities making them appropriate candidates for desalinizing water. Also, bacteria harvested from the cleanest lake in the world (Lake Vostok, Russia) may be effective in producing clean water. In 2008, researchers are expected to begin extensive studies on it. There are currently 12 500 desalinization plants operating in 120 countries providing 3.5 billion gallons of water every day satisfying only 1% of global demand. While reverse osmosis has been the most effective method, there is one issue: the briny discharge. If we could engineer bacteria to use the salts to survive, we could eliminate that pollution.

Resources: [Culturable bacterial diversity of the ancient salt deposits in the Kunming Salt Mine, P. R. China], Prokaryotic microbial diversity of the ancient salt deposits in the Kunming Salt Mine, P.R. China, New England BioLabs, Zuckerberg Institute for Water Resources