"
Team:UCL/Project/About
From 2014.igem.org
| Line 46: | Line 46: | ||
<div class="SCJBBHIGHLIGHT" data-step="7" data-position='top' data-intro="Read up on our BioBricks, our lab team has been working hard to make our dreams a reality."> | <div class="SCJBBHIGHLIGHT" data-step="7" data-position='top' data-intro="Read up on our BioBricks, our lab team has been working hard to make our dreams a reality."> | ||
<p class="infoBlock3 cf"> | <p class="infoBlock3 cf"> | ||
| - | <a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:UCL/Project/Biobricks" data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="Click to learn more about our BioBricks!" href="javascript:void(0)" style="width: 18%;float: left;margin-right:2%"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/c/c3/Team_Icons-01.png" style="max-width: 100%;"></a>For our iGEM project we developed a process to <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="Our reaction pathway involves two steps. First, azo-bond cleavage, and then oxidation of aromatic amines." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>controllably degrade and detoxify</b></a> the excess azo dye effluent at the source - the textile factories - before they even reach the water systems. We achieved this goal by introducing the genes for three enzymes related to the degradation of these dyes: <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="Azoreductase will cleave the azo-bond (N=N) by a double reduction using NADPH as a cofactor, producing a series of highly toxic aromatic amines." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>azoreductase</b></a>, <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="The aromatic amines will then be oxidised, producing less toxic final products." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>laccase</b></a>, and <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="We will investigate the activity of lignin peroxidase in addition to laccase, to determine which is the optimum enzyme for our process." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>lignin peroxidase</b></a> into a host <i>E.coli</i> cell to create an enhanced azo dye decolourising organism. | + | <a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:UCL/Project/Biobricks" data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="Click to learn more about our BioBricks!" href="javascript:void(0)" style="width: 18%;float: left;margin-right:2%"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/c/c3/Team_Icons-01.png" style="max-width: 100%;"></a>For our iGEM project we developed a process to <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="Our reaction pathway involves two steps. First, azo-bond cleavage, and then oxidation of aromatic amines." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>controllably degrade and detoxify</b></a> the excess azo dye effluent at the source - the textile factories - before they even reach the water systems. We achieved this goal by introducing the genes for three enzymes related to the degradation of these dyes: <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="Azoreductase will cleave the azo-bond (N=N) by a double reduction using NADPH as a cofactor, producing a series of highly toxic aromatic amines." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>azoreductase</b></a>, <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="The aromatic amines will then be oxidised, producing less toxic final products." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>laccase</b></a>, and <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="We will investigate the activity of lignin peroxidase in addition to laccase, to determine which is the optimum enzyme for our process." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>lignin peroxidase</b></a> into a host <i>E.coli</i> cell to create an enhanced azo dye decolourising organism.</p> |
</div> | </div> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
<div class="SCJBPHIGHLIGHT" data-step="8" data-position='top' data-intro="Read up on sustainable bioprocessing, a platform for future bioremediation engineering technologies."> | <div class="SCJBPHIGHLIGHT" data-step="8" data-position='top' data-intro="Read up on sustainable bioprocessing, a platform for future bioremediation engineering technologies."> | ||
| - | <p class="infoBlock4 cf"><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:UCL/Science/Bioprocessing" data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="Click to learn more about our bioprocess!" href="javascript:void(0)" style="width: 18%;float: right;margin-left:2%"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/b/be/Team_Icons-06.png" style="max-width: 100%;"></a>We also designed an <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="Our process could be implemented in water treatment facilities or within the dyeing industry itself." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>integrated end-of-pipe method</b></a> for detoxifying dye factory wastewater effluent streams by incorporating our engineered <i>E. coli</i> strain in a two-stage process to ensure optimal conditions for the degradation of azo dyes within a batch bioreactor system. The potential for scalability of this method would present various <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="As a financial incentive, we also looked at maximizing the profitability of various potential breakdown products as well as investigated the application of microbial fuel cell technology to an aerobic bioreactor system, for simultaneously detoxifying azo dyes and generating electricity." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>economic and environmental advantages</b></a> for industries that generate large amounts of dyestuff. The system we have developed could also be enhanced to become a <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="The development of such a process would be an attractive and effective approach to dealing with azo dye contamination of the environment." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>modular bioprocess method</b></a> for wastewater treatment of other toxic, normally recalcitrant chemicals. | + | <p class="infoBlock4 cf"><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:UCL/Science/Bioprocessing" data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="Click to learn more about our bioprocess!" href="javascript:void(0)" style="width: 18%;float: right;margin-left:2%"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/b/be/Team_Icons-06.png" style="max-width: 100%;"></a>We also designed an <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="Our process could be implemented in water treatment facilities or within the dyeing industry itself." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>integrated end-of-pipe method</b></a> for detoxifying dye factory wastewater effluent streams by incorporating our engineered <i>E. coli</i> strain in a two-stage process to ensure optimal conditions for the degradation of azo dyes within a batch bioreactor system. The potential for scalability of this method would present various <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="As a financial incentive, we also looked at maximizing the profitability of various potential breakdown products as well as investigated the application of microbial fuel cell technology to an aerobic bioreactor system, for simultaneously detoxifying azo dyes and generating electricity." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>economic and environmental advantages</b></a> for industries that generate large amounts of dyestuff. The system we have developed could also be enhanced to become a <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="The development of such a process would be an attractive and effective approach to dealing with azo dye contamination of the environment." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>modular bioprocess method</b></a> for wastewater treatment of other toxic, normally recalcitrant chemicals.</p> |
</div> | </div> | ||
<br> | <br> | ||
<div class="SCJPPHIGHLIGHT" data-step="9" data-position='top' data-intro="Last but not least, the people who made this all possible."> | <div class="SCJPPHIGHLIGHT" data-step="9" data-position='top' data-intro="Last but not least, the people who made this all possible."> | ||
| - | <p class="infoBlock5 cf"><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:UCL/Humans/Team" data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="Click to learn more about us!" href="javascript:void(0)" style="width: 18%;float: left;margin-right:2%"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/b/ba/Team_Icons-03.png" style="max-width: 100%;"></a>This year, UCL has a highly interdisciplinary team of undergraduates and postgraduates, all with a burning passion and love for our project, our little <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="UCL has been involved in iGEM since 2009, and we have a community of eager minds craving for more iGEM and more synthetic biology." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>synbio community</b></a>, and what it could become in the future. We are all genuinely delighted to be trying to bring synthetic biology to the world around us. | + | <p class="infoBlock5 cf"><a href="https://2014.igem.org/Team:UCL/Humans/Team" data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="Click to learn more about us!" href="javascript:void(0)" style="width: 18%;float: left;margin-right:2%"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2014/b/ba/Team_Icons-03.png" style="max-width: 100%;"></a>This year, UCL has a highly interdisciplinary team of undergraduates and postgraduates, all with a burning passion and love for our project, our little <a data-tip="true" class="top large" data-tip-content="UCL has been involved in iGEM since 2009, and we have a community of eager minds craving for more iGEM and more synthetic biology." href="javascript:void(0)"><b>synbio community</b></a>, and what it could become in the future. We are all genuinely delighted to be trying to bring synthetic biology to the world around us.</p> |
</div> | </div> | ||
Revision as of 13:26, 16 October 2014
Since their accidental discovery by Sir William Henry Perkin in 1853, azo dyes have become one of the most popular forms of synthetic colourant. These dyes are currently used in the industrial manufacture of a variety of products, ranging from clothing and upholstery to cosmetics and tattoo ink, as well as many others.
Although azo-dyes are widely regarded as a safe and stable form of synthetic colourant, some of them can take on dangerous properties after they have been broken down by enzymes in the guts of organisms.
In the textile industry alone, the global annual production of dyes amounts to a million metric tons. In many countries, the leftover dye effluent produced by industrial manufacturers is often not properly disposed of, or removed, during water treatment.
This results in the accumulation of azo dyes in water bodies where they are then ingested by aquatic organisms. Additionally, irrigation of agricultural lands with dye polluted water severely affects soil fertility and plant growth.
The products of this enzymatic breakdown have been found to be both mutagenic and carcinogenic, and have been linked to increased occurrences of several different forms of cancer if they enter the food chain. Despite this toxicity and it's potential effect on human health, little to no effort has been made to dispose of these leftover azo dyes more responsibly.
As a result, development of remediation technologies for treatment of dye containing waste waters has been a matter of major concern for environmentalists.
For our iGEM project we developed a process to controllably degrade and detoxify the excess azo dye effluent at the source - the textile factories - before they even reach the water systems. We achieved this goal by introducing the genes for three enzymes related to the degradation of these dyes: azoreductase, laccase, and lignin peroxidase into a host E.coli cell to create an enhanced azo dye decolourising organism.
We also designed an integrated end-of-pipe method for detoxifying dye factory wastewater effluent streams by incorporating our engineered E. coli strain in a two-stage process to ensure optimal conditions for the degradation of azo dyes within a batch bioreactor system. The potential for scalability of this method would present various economic and environmental advantages for industries that generate large amounts of dyestuff. The system we have developed could also be enhanced to become a modular bioprocess method for wastewater treatment of other toxic, normally recalcitrant chemicals.
This year, UCL has a highly interdisciplinary team of undergraduates and postgraduates, all with a burning passion and love for our project, our little synbio community, and what it could become in the future. We are all genuinely delighted to be trying to bring synthetic biology to the world around us.
