Creating a biodegradable drone will reduce collateral waste, lightening the footprint of unmanned science missions on planetary environments and microecosystems. Since we are using BCOAc for the construction of our drone, we plan on transforming E. coli with two genes obtained from Niesseria sicca, which synthesizes enzymes capable of degrading BCOAc; the first gene is an esterase which deacetylates the BCOAc, and the second is endo-1,4-beta-glucanase, a cellulase which speeds BC degradation. In order to trigger the onset and spread of degradation, we are investigating pressure-sensitive promoters (to simulate impact) and time-sensitive promoters linked to bacterial quorum sensing machinery. Quorum sensing allows the signal for degradation to spread to surrounding cells, enabling the complete breakdown of our biomaterials from a single point of impact.
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Results
Our goal for this project was not only to isolate biodegradation enzymes but also to control the release of these enzymes, so that our UAV would not degrade uncontrollably. In order to control the initiation of biodegradation, we first considered using a pressure sensor. This would allow the UAV to begin degrading after the impact of a crash. The 2008 Tokyo Tech iGem team found that the ptet promoter was pressure sensitive and increased its activity 3-fold after undergoing 30 MPa of pressure. However, after analyzing the impact a crash would have on our UAV by using a force plate, we found it unlikely that the impact of the crash would ever reach such a high pressure (see graph below). Rather than searching for another type of pressure sensor, we chose to try another method
JEANETTE OR JOVITA PLEASE INSERT THE PRESSURE/FORCE PLATE GRAPH HERE. IT IS NOT IN THE GOOGLE DRIVE SO I CAN'T DO IT.
We next tried to initiate degradation using a light sensor, which would activate degradation in the darkness, allowing our UAV to have a flight time of one day.
Methods & Safety
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