Chlorella Cavaliers
Location
CoLab, COM 352
Start Date
30-4-2026 3:45 PM
Document Type
Poster
Description
Millions of tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean yearly, polluting the Earth. Our research is dedicated to creating a form of algae that degrades plastic. By first introducing METase and PETase DNA to Chlorella vulgaris algae, clones were individually selected and screened for positive DNA. Results showed a positive clone. These results confirm that we introduced the gene for enzymes; further work will look at protein expression and plastic degradation to determine if the enzyme is active. This could prove to be a viable way to clean our underwater ecosystems, and we are hoping to discover an efficient method to produce positive algae clones that can degrade plastic better than wild-type algae.
Image
Chlorella Cavaliers
CoLab, COM 352
Millions of tons of plastic are dumped into the ocean yearly, polluting the Earth. Our research is dedicated to creating a form of algae that degrades plastic. By first introducing METase and PETase DNA to Chlorella vulgaris algae, clones were individually selected and screened for positive DNA. Results showed a positive clone. These results confirm that we introduced the gene for enzymes; further work will look at protein expression and plastic degradation to determine if the enzyme is active. This could prove to be a viable way to clean our underwater ecosystems, and we are hoping to discover an efficient method to produce positive algae clones that can degrade plastic better than wild-type algae.
Comments
The faculty mentor for this project was Heather Seitz.