After researching in some industries such as paper making factory, we found that traditional methods in these areas were not very effective and environmental friendly. To make a difference, Alkaline cellulase can be used to replace some chemical substances, there are two examples:

In papermaking industry

Alkaline cellulase is widely used in papermaking industry. One of the important fibrous materials is daily waste papers. Compared with chemical methods, enzymatic process has many advantages, for example, the drainage properties of pulp is improved a lot and the whiteness of paper is significantly enhanced.

In textile industry

Through enzymatic hydrolysis, cellulase can open nodules in cloth to make cloth more fluffy and comfortable. The surface can be made more smooth and colorful. Experience tells that alkaline cellulase is environment friendly, since it could reduce the sewage disposal and improve the washing efficiency.
Since the benefits mentioned above and the low production of Alkaline cellulase in nature, we decided to create a machine which can churn out Alkaline cellulase. The alkaline cellulase gene was introduced into the Escherichia coli and the target enzyme can be highly produced with the help of Kil, which is one of the core elements of our project. What’s more, MdfA, a proton pump across the cell membrane, was added to transport the proton into the cytoplasma, and release Na⁺/K⁺ at the same time, resulting in cell survival in alkaline industry wastewaters as high as pH 9.5. Another highlight of our project is that we also added a ccdB suicide system to our e-machine, by this we could remove the biological machine whenever we need for biological safety.