Team:HKJS S
HKJS_S
Welcome to our Wiki page.
We are students from St. Stephen's College and Carmel Pak U Secondary School. For more than one year, we have worked endlessly on this project. We have read thousands of papers, done hundreds of experiments, spent hours and hours writing an essay. We hope that our efforts aren't futile, and that our project can benefit mankind.
Abstract
Poly(ethyleneterephthalate) (PET) is a prevalent material which can is used in various applications, while bringing adverse effects to the environment. An enzyme, PETase, can degrade the highly-crystalized PET to mono-(2-hydroxyethyl) terephthalic acid (MHET), terephthalate and Bis(2-Hydroxyethyl) terephthalate. MHET is also further decomposed by MHETase to terephthalic acid and ethylene glycol (EG). EG can be further broken down in E. coli K-12 to produce carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide, however, is a notable greenhouse gas. Using the mutagenesis of the amino acid residues of nifD in nitrogenase, the substrate binding site can be modified so that carbon dioxide can undergo the multi-electron reduction to methane. We propose an efficient carbon dioxide reduction system with the decomposition of PET as the primary carbon source. PETase, MHETase, and amino acid substituted nitrogen fixation genes in MoFe nitrogenase will be expressed in a fast-growing bacterium, E. coli.
For a detailed description of our project. please visit Project Description.
But How is it Changing the World
The objective of this project is to convert carbon dioxide into methane using E Coli. As the conversion is complete, methane can be stored until it is applied in other industries.
Methane is a colourless and odourless gas. It is also the simplest member of the alkane series. Methane is the major component of natural gas, accounting for about 90% of moles.
Like carbon dioxide, methane is a greenhouse gas, meaning that it traps heat in the atmosphere. Its heat-trapping power is much higher than that of carbon dioxide, trapping 72 more times heat than carbon dioxide does in a 20-year period.
Despite being seen as a big threat to global warming, methane has a lot of uses, and can bring benefits if used correctly.
Go to see the whole Human Practice Article.
Our Team
We are students from St. Stephen's College and Carmel Pak U Secondary School in Hong Kong. We have worked together for more than a year. Although we are separated by different districts, our enthusiasm towards biology and this competition link us all together. Everyone contribute to the team using their talents.
Why not visit out team members ?