Difference between revisions of "Team:UMaryland/Team"

One of the factors that affects the efficiency of biodegradation of plastics is the concentration of the catalyzing enzyme near the surface of the plastic. If the enzyme is allowed to diffuse in solution freely it is less likely to interact with the plastic. In a situation like this degradation could be much slower than if the enzyme was highly concentrated around the surface of the plastic. The Ideonella sakaiensis was reported to have grown in a biofilm which enveloped plastic pieces. As such, we first considered maximizing production of biofilm on plastic. While researching this possibility we found that the 2017 ITB Indonesia iGEM team had attempted a similar project. They developed a system that facilitated biofilm production and expressed PETase simultaneously. Their results indicated that biofilm formation actually inhibited degradation. More plastic was degraded without biofilm than with.