Team:StanfordBrownSpelman

Cellulose Acetate

We produced a moldable & 3D printable bioplastic by transferring the acetylation machinery from Pseudomonas fluorescens into Acetobacter hansenii.

Amberless Hell Cell

We generated hearty, radiation, heat, & cold resistant bacteria that are incapable of transferring engineered genes into the environment.

Material Waterproofing

Our team biomimetically produced waxes and novel wasp proteins that prevent water absorbance without being toxic to the surrounding ecosystem.

Biodegradability

Though cellulose acetate is an inherently biodegradable material, our team undertook to actively degrade the biomaterial to streamline the process.

Cellulose Linker

We conducted a designed a system to attach biosensors and other biological cells to the surface of the UAV.

We are currently working on a series of projects towards the construction of a fully biological unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for use in scientific and humanitarian missions. The prospect of a biologically-produced UAV presents numerous advantages over the current manufacturing paradigm. First, a foundational architecture built by cells allows for construction or repair in locations where it would be difficult to bring traditional tools of production. Second, a major limitation of current research with UAVs is the size and high power consumption of analytical instruments, which require bulky electrical components and large fuselages to support their weight. By moving these functions into cells with biosensing capabilities – for example, a series of cells engineered to report GFP, green fluorescent protein, when conditions exceed a certain threshold concentration of a compound of interest, enabling their detection post-flight – these problems of scale can be avoided. To this end, we are working to engineer cells to synthesize cellulose acetate as a novel bioplastic, characterize biological methods of waterproofing the material, and program this material’s systemic biodegradation. In addition, we aim to use an “amberless” system to prevent horizontal gene transfer from live cells on the material to microorganisms in the flight environment.

The core of our project is the application of genes from Pseudomonas fluorescens to produce a novel bioplastic.

SBS iGEM has developed an integrated, multi-component material that is durable, biodegradable, &amp widely applicable.

Special Thanks to Our Sponsors

DNA 2.0 ● Mathworks ● IDT ● Geneious ● Rhode Island Space Grant ● Georgia Space Grant ● NASA Ames Directors’ Investment Fund ● Brown University Office of the President ● Brown University UTRA ● Stanford University REU program ● Tim Cooper at University of Houston for Pseudomonas fluorescens ● Jean-Marie Dimandja at Spelman College for 2D GC Analysis ● Dave Kavanaugh at Cal Academy of Sciences for helping us to trap wasps ● Michael Sheehan at UC Berkeley for helping us to identify wasp species

      

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