Team:UCL/Project/About

From 2014.igem.org

Revision as of 17:53, 16 October 2014 by Sanjaycj (Talk | contribs)

Goodbye Azodye UCL iGEM 2014

About Our Project
The Problem: Azo Dyes in the Environment

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.

The Solution: Goodbye Azo Dye

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, forming a synbio community at UCL. We are all genuinely delighted to be trying to bring synthetic biology to the world around us. This year we have accomplished immense public engagement and tackled key issues regarding policy and practices.

Contact Us

University College London
Gower Street - London
WC1E 6BT
Biochemical Engineering Department
Phone: +44 (0)20 7679 2000
Email: ucligem2014@gmail.com

Follow Us