"
Team:Oxford/ouridea
From 2014.igem.org
| Line 47: | Line 47: | ||
[1] MacIsaac, Julia, et al. "Fatalities due to dichloromethane in paint strippers: A continuing problem." American journal of industrial medicine 56.8 (2013): 907-910. | [1] MacIsaac, Julia, et al. "Fatalities due to dichloromethane in paint strippers: A continuing problem." American journal of industrial medicine 56.8 (2013): 907-910. | ||
| - | + | ||
| Line 55: | Line 55: | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
| - | + | --> | |
</html> | </html> | ||
Revision as of 02:32, 26 August 2014
Chlorinated solvents are indispensable to industry, research and household applications. Their accumulation in water supplies and carcinogenic properties present a major environmental and health hazard.
OxiGEM are tackling the issue by developing a bioremediation/detection kit to dispose of the common chlorinated solvent dichloromethane (DCM). Our system design, inspired by the DCM-degradation pathway of M. extorquens DM4, is initiated and refined by the dialogue between modeling simulations and experimental data. Incorporation of novel diffusion-limiting biopolymeric beads to encapsulate engineered bacteria ensures safe and efficient DCM degradation.
We are constructing a synthetic fluorescent biosensor through GFP fusion to the dcmA promoter, regulated by the DCM-binding protein, DcmR, and maximising the sensitivity and catalytic efficiency of the system through directed evolution.
Our DCM clean-up solution, branded ‘DCMation’, will be user-friendly in a wide range of workplaces and extendable to the disposal of many other harmful substrates.
