We degrade polyethylene and generate electricity from it!
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Team:Hong Kong HKUST
Engineer E. coli with Laccase gene to degrade PE into smaller alkane chains
Polyethylene Degradation
Metabolise alkane chains to convert it into Shewanella oneidensis food source
Alkane Metabolism
Use Shewanella oneidensis inbuilt
extracellular electron transport mechanism to produce electricity
The Microbial Fuel Cell
IGEM 2018 - TEAM HKUST
PROJECT DESCRIPTION
From plastics to the power line
The iGEM HKUST 2018 team attempts to generate electricity from the degradation of the most widely used plastic, polyethylene (PE), using a synthetic biology approach. Making use of E. coli engineered with genes encoding for laccase to degrade polyethylene into smaller alkane chains, our team recognizes the opportunity to further advance this project by addressing another key issue – energy. Using Shewanella oneidensis MR-1 strain’s inbuilt extracellular electron transport mechanism in tandem with genes responsible for alkane metabolism derived from Desulfatibacillum alkenivorans, we will generate electricity from the metabolism of degraded polyethylene, hoping that it will one day help in solving the world’s growing energy needs. Thus, our project serves as an integrated effort to simultaneously solve two crucial problems.
IGEM 2018 - TEAM HKUST
MFC DESIGN
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IGEM 2018 - TEAM HKUST
MODELLING
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IGEM 2018 - TEAM HKUST
HUMAN PRACTICES
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