Biotechnology
Location
CoLab, COM 350
Start Date
30-4-2026 3:45 PM
Document Type
Poster
Description
In our class we have the project to solutionate a problem that is very persistent in this era. With our research we are trying to reduce the plastic waste. Plastic is something that makes our lives more cheaper and comfortable, but also is something that takes a lot of time to break down, and it makes a lot of waste. And this problem is not just environmental. Microplastics were discovered, and with that, problems that microplastic cause us, like blocking the blood flow. The goal that we have is to give algae the capacity to degrade plastic. That is difficult because plastic is very useful because almost anything that we have in our environment can degrade plastic faster. There are few things in our environment that can degrade plastic, some fungi and algae. We are going to use algae. Algae have enzymes that are able to break down plastic that we can use. In order to do this, we put DNA into algae to make it degrade plastic. To see if the algae has the DNA that we insert it, we analyze the DNA and protein of it. The algae that I am using are still reproducing, and have the DNA that I insert. The algae have a lot of clones and positive DNA. With the DNA inserted in the algae, it should be able to degrade the plastic, knowing that, the next step of the project is that we are going to make the algae to break down plastic.
Image
Biotechnology
CoLab, COM 350
In our class we have the project to solutionate a problem that is very persistent in this era. With our research we are trying to reduce the plastic waste. Plastic is something that makes our lives more cheaper and comfortable, but also is something that takes a lot of time to break down, and it makes a lot of waste. And this problem is not just environmental. Microplastics were discovered, and with that, problems that microplastic cause us, like blocking the blood flow. The goal that we have is to give algae the capacity to degrade plastic. That is difficult because plastic is very useful because almost anything that we have in our environment can degrade plastic faster. There are few things in our environment that can degrade plastic, some fungi and algae. We are going to use algae. Algae have enzymes that are able to break down plastic that we can use. In order to do this, we put DNA into algae to make it degrade plastic. To see if the algae has the DNA that we insert it, we analyze the DNA and protein of it. The algae that I am using are still reproducing, and have the DNA that I insert. The algae have a lot of clones and positive DNA. With the DNA inserted in the algae, it should be able to degrade the plastic, knowing that, the next step of the project is that we are going to make the algae to break down plastic.
Comments
The faculty mentor for this project was Heather Seitz.