Team:British Columbia

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WELCOME TO iGEM 2014! TESTING!

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Project Description

The British Columbia mining industry is a vital economic generator for the province, estimating at $8.5 billion in revenue per year. It touches the lives of every British Columbian, from creating 30,000 direct jobs to generating revenues used by the government to fund education, health care, transportation projects, and other public services. As the demand for B.C minerals grow in the global markets, so does the industry. However, current mining practices are expensive, chemically intensive, and energetically demanding. These practices lead to esthetic challenges (open pits) and the generation of tailings ponds that are difficult to monitor and control in the future. With environmental regulations becoming ever more stringent, these common practices are coming under greater scrutiny. The BC mining association and its members have taken a proactive stance; they were the first province to adopt a “sustainable mining initiative” aimed towards increasing efficiency while reducing environmental impact through innovative methods. In alignment with these goals, the 2014 UBC iGEM project seeks to improve the efficiency of mineral separation from impurities via a bacterium expressing two types of peptides on its surface. The first set are known to bind specifically to chalcopyrite (CuFeS2) and sphalerite (ZnS), minerals commonly found in natural ores. The second set aggregates the bacteria to facilitate extraction. By developing a novel directed evolution apparatus to work in concert with our chassis, we will be able to generate a wide array of peptides specific to different valuable minerals, granting our system versatility and adaptability for the changing needs in both the mining industry and the BC economy. This biological approach provides an alternative in mineral processing that involves fewer harmful chemicals, greater selectivity and better recovery of metals in complex or lower grade ores. Furthermore, this technology may remediate tailings and waste, allowing us to one day enrich more metals out of less rock. Such an implication can have significant effects financially and environmentally for the mining industry, thereby creating a more sustainable future.

Requirements

Please be sure to keep these links, your audience will want to find your:

There are a few wiki requirements teams must follow:

  • All pages, images and files must be hosted on the 2014.igem.org server.
  • All pages must be created under the team’s name space.
  • As part of your documentation, keep the links from the menu to the left.
  • Do not use flash in wiki code.
  • The iGEM logo should be placed on the upper part of every page and should link to 2014.igem.org.

Visit the Wiki How To page for a complete list of requirements, tips and other useful information.

Tips

We are currently working on providing teams with some easy to use design templates.
In the meantime you can also view other team wikis for inspiration! Here are some very good examples

For a full wiki list, you can visit iGEM 2013 web sites and iGEM 2012 web sites lists.

This wiki will be your team’s first interaction with the rest of the world, so here are a few tips to help you get started:

  • State your accomplishments! Tell people what you have achieved from the start.
  • Be clear about what you are doing and what you plan to do.
  • You have a global audience! Consider the different backgrounds that your users come from.
  • Make sure information is easy to find; nothing should be more than 3 clicks away.
  • Avoid using very small fonts and low contrast colors; information should be easy to read.
  • Start documenting your project as early as possible; don’t leave anything to the last minute before the Wiki Freeze. For a complete list of deadlines visit the iGEM 2013 calendar
  • Have lots of fun!