Team:WHU-China/Future plan
Short-term plan
In our grand scheme, the Ark should be multifunctional which means it not only collect phosphorus but also other CC. Luckily, our design is a flexible and adaptable one, so in order to collect other CC we only need to replace the functional part—PPX, PPN and PPK with other parts in the interface of our pathway. For example, if we use the nitrogen uptake and transport protein as functional part, we can collect nitrogen; if we use MerR protein as functional part, we can collect mercury……
This process is just like doing jigsaw puzzle, and the different color of puzzle pieces represent different function of parts.
Secondly, we plan to improve our chassis in order to adapt it to all kinds of harsh environment. Transform gutD or mtlD gene to it to endow E.coli with saline-alkali tolerance and give them the ability of surviving in High osmotic environment; transform xynB64 to it to enable it to resist high temperature in hot environment.
In addition, to broaden the range of application, our device still have a lot of room for improvement. Except for collecting CC, we also want it to detect the concentration of it. We want to set GPS positioning system and concentration detection system on it, thus our Ark can sense the concentration of its surrounding and convey the signal back in real-time. Afterwards, we can analyze whether this area is polluted and how long should we put our Ark there.
Long term goal
Even more exciting, our Ark has the potential to work out of water if we change the hardware! Imagine our Ark fly in the sky and absorb haze, dive into the water and detect material on the seabed……