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| <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/6/6a/T--Humboldt_Berlin--Kloetze.jpeg" alt="Kloetze Algae Farm" /> | | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/6/6a/T--Humboldt_Berlin--Kloetze.jpeg" alt="Kloetze Algae Farm" /> |
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− | <h1 class="page-headline description" style="font-size: 10vw;line-height: 7vw;">Human Practices</h1> | + | <h1 class="page-headline description" style="font-size: 10vw;line-height: 5vw;">Human Practices</h1> |
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| <h3 class="headline3">Our Human Practices</h3> | | <h3 class="headline3">Our Human Practices</h3> |
| <p class="block-text medium-sized"> | | <p class="block-text medium-sized"> |
− | As part of our human practice projects we decided to focus on two things. First and foremost, we wanted to collect as much know-how as possible, about algae cultivation and the potential algae has. This is why we visited various experts and exchanged ideas about our project. In the following texts we outlined what we learned and how we applied the collected know how in our project. | + | As part of our human practice projects we decided to focus on two things. First and foremost, we wanted to collect as much know-how as possible, about algae cultivation and the potential green algae have. This is why we visited various experts and exchanged ideas about our project. In the following texts we outlined what we learned and how we applied the collected know how in our project. |
| </br> | | </br> |
| </br> | | </br> |
− | Secondly: For most people, science happens behind wall of big institutes or universities. Most of them see scientist on TV news or movies, but what is actually happening in the lab? To close this gap between scientists and public we organized several events to show what we are doing. Here we presented our ideas and visions, talked about synthetic biology and answered upcoming questions. </br> | + | Secondly: For most people, science happens behind walls of big institutes or universities. Most of them see scientists on TV news or movies, but what is actually happening in the lab? To close this gap between scientists and public we organized several events to show what we are doing. Here we presented our ideas and visions, talked about synthetic biology and answered upcoming questions. </br> |
| Read more here: <a href="https://2019.igem.org/Team:Humboldt_Berlin/Public_Engagement"> | | Read more here: <a href="https://2019.igem.org/Team:Humboldt_Berlin/Public_Engagement"> |
| Education & Engagement | | Education & Engagement |
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| <h3 class="headline3">Green Week</h3> | | <h3 class="headline3">Green Week</h3> |
| <p class="block-text medium-sized"> | | <p class="block-text medium-sized"> |
− | This year the International „Green Week” took place in Berlin from January 18-27. The Green Week is an exhibition dealing with renewable resources, organic agriculture, gardening and food industry. With over thousand exhibitors with more than 100.000 products from all over the world, the green week brings the possibility of collecting information about seminal products and technologies and the exchange with interesting personalities.</br> | + | This year the International „Green Week” took place in Berlin from January 18-27. The Green Week is an exhibition dealing with renewable resources, organic agriculture, gardening and food industry. With over thousand exhibitors with more than 100,000 products from all over the world, the green week affords the possibility of collecting information about seminal products and technologies and the exchange with interesting personalities.</br> |
− | On the exhibition we met multiple organisation dealing with great world problems like environmental pollution, worldwide hunger, exploitation and child poverty.</br> | + | On the exhibition we met multiple organisations dealing with great world problems like environmental pollution, worldwide hunger, exploitation and child poverty.</br> |
− | The Upcycling program “trashy bag” of the humanitarian organisation “PLAN International”, where women using old plastic bags to produce new bags, inspired us to do our own upcycling workshop with children (read here about our <a href="/Team:Humboldt_Berlin/Public_Engagement#Upcycling"> upcycling workshop</a>).</br> | + | The Upcycling program “trashy bag” of the humanitarian organisation “PLAN International”, where women use old plastic bags to produce new bags, inspired us to do our own upcycling workshop with children (read here about our <a href="/Team:Humboldt_Berlin/Public_Engagement#Upcycling"> upcycling workshop</a>).</br> |
− | We also met Jörg Ullmann, who is the owner of an algae farm in Germany, Klötze and an expert in alga cultivation who invited us to visit him at his farm (read more about our visit at the algae farm below).</br></br>Within this exhibition the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) organized a presentation about microplastic with its risks and current research situations which we visited. We retrieved a lot of new information and had the chance to discuss with experts and scientist | + | We also met Jörg Ullmann, who is the owner of an algae farm in Germany, Klötze and an expert in alga cultivation who invited us to visit him at his farm (read more about our visit at the algae farm below).</br></br>We visited the presentation about microplastic with its risks and current research situation organized by the German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR). We retrieved a lot of new information and had the chance to discuss this with experts and scientists. |
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| </p> | | </p> |
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| <i>“The most important lungs of our planet are our oceans - | | <i>“The most important lungs of our planet are our oceans - |
− | every second oxygen molecule we inhale is produced by algae”</i><br><br> This is why Joerg Ullmann, the owner of one of the biggest algae farms in Europe, is still fascinated by algae and has worked with them for more than 15 years. We visited him at his farm to understand how algae can be cultivated in such a big scale. Here he grows <i>Spirulina</i> and <i>Chlorella</i> which then can be processed, for example to food and cosmetic products. As we built a bioreactor for <i>C. reinhardtii</i> as well, it was very important to exchange ideas. We learned that not every algae needs the same cultivation and that there is not just one perfect way to cultivate algae in general. Every species is different in its demands - this is why we have/had to experiment how chlamy can be cultivated best. | + | every second oxygen molecule we inhale is produced by algae”</i><br><br> This is why Joerg Ullmann, the owner of one of the biggest algae farms in Europe, is still fascinated by algae and has worked with them for more than 15 years. We visited him at his farm to understand how algae can be cultivated on such a big scale. Here he grows <i>Spirulina</i> and <i>Chlorella</i> which then can be processed, for example to food and cosmetic products. As we built a bioreactor for <i>C. reinhardtii</i> as well, it was very important to exchange ideas. We learned that not every algae needs the same cultivation and that there is not just one perfect way to cultivate algae in general. Every species is different in its demands - this is why we had to experiment how chlamy can be cultivated best. |
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− | <h3 class="headline3">Dr. Steuer, Advisor at CellDeg</h3> | + | <h3 class="headline3">Dr. Ralf Steuer, cofounder of CellDeg GmbH</h3> |
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| + | As cofounder of CellDeg (a Berlin based start up for high density cultivation devices of algae), Dr. Ralf Steuer is an expert in phototrophic cultivation to whom we referred for tips on how to increase the protein yields from our engineered <i>Chlamydomonas</i> strains. He leads the research group Metabolic Network Analysis at the Institute of Theoretical Biology. Dr. Steuer taught us many things that were important for our project. He gave us advice on realizing the cultivation setup and helped us understand some of the many possibilities and details while cultivating photosynthetically active organisms. |
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| + | Besides sensitizing us to the metabolic needs of an algae culture he most importantly helped us to understand what parameters are important while cultivating photosynthetic organisms. With his help and our developed model, we arrived at the conclusion that we should cultivate <i>C. reinhardtii</i> in a thin bioreactor, resulting in a higher algae density and a higher density of the enzymes it secretes. This would maximize the degradations efficiency. This is why we constructed our bioreactor using a flat-panel, for more information read: <a href="https://2019.igem.org/Team:Humboldt_Berlin/Design#Bioreactor"> |
− | An advisor to CellDeg (a Berlin based start up for photsynthetic cultivation devices), Dr. Ralf Steuer is a phototrophic cultivation expert to whom we referred for tips on how to increase the protein yields from our engineered <i>Chlamydomonas</i> strains. He leads the research group Metabolic Network Analysis at the Institute of Theoretical Biology. Dr. Steuer taught us many things that were important for our project. He gave us advice on realizing the cultivation setup and helped us understand some of the many possibilities and details while cultivating photsynthetically active organisms. Besides sensitizing us to the metabolic needs of an algae culture he most importantly recommended to use flat-panels for our future bioreactor. Cultivating the modified <i>C. reinhardtii</i> in a thin bioreactor results into a higher algae density and a higher density of the enzymes it secretes. This would maximize the degradations efficiency. This is why we constructed our bioreactor using a flat-panel, for more information read: <a href="https://2019.igem.org/Team:Humboldt_Berlin/Design#Bioreactor">
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| Designing and building a bioreactor. | | Designing and building a bioreactor. |
− | </a><br/> More over it was only with his help that we got came to the idea to include cell culture density in our PETase model and especially to make experiments on transgene influence on growth.
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| <h3 class="headline3">ResearchGate</h3> | | <h3 class="headline3">ResearchGate</h3> |
| <p class="block-text medium-sized"> | | <p class="block-text medium-sized"> |
− | ResearchGate is a social network, created for scientists all over the world.The platform allows researchers, students, and everyone who is interested, to connect with scientists, to exchange papers and to stay on track about the latest publications. Luckily, we were invited to talk about our project at the ResearchGate office in Berlin. Here, we met people from different professional and academic backgrounds working on the scientific knowledge transfer across disciplines and social groups. By talking to project management specialists, we learned how to streamline the processes of creating tasks, assigning due dates and responsible team members to them and how to finish these by their respective deadlines. | + | ResearchGate is a social network, created for scientists all over the world. The platform allows researchers, students, and everyone who is interested, to connect with scientists, to exchange papers and to stay on track about the latest publications. Luckily, we were invited to talk about our project at the ResearchGate office in Berlin. Here, we met people from different professional and academic backgrounds working on the scientific knowledge transfer across disciplines and social groups. By talking to project management specialists, we learned how to streamline the processes of creating tasks, assigning due dates and responsible team members to them and how to finish these by their respective deadlines. |
| </p> | | </p> |
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− | <h3 class="headline3" style="text-align:left">Tobias Gerhardt</h3> | + | <h3 class="headline3" style="text-align:left">Tobias Gerhardt, GNF e.V.</h3> |
| <div> | | <div> |
| <p p class="block-text medium-sized"> | | <p p class="block-text medium-sized"> |
− | It's easy to accept the facts that are told, but we were interested our self wether we could visualize the amount of microplastic that remains even after waste water filtration and decontamination. That is why we teamed up with start-up founder Tobias Gerhardt, who developed a visual marker for microplastic. As his assay is still under development, we can not go much into detail about the chemical components used, unfortunately. | + | It's easy to accept the facts that are told, but we were interested our self wether we could visualize the amount of microplastic that remains even after waste water filtration and decontamination. That is why we teamed up with Tobias Gerhardt from GNF e.V., who developed a visual marker for microplastic. As his assay is still under development, we can not go much into detail about the chemical components used, unfortunately. |
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− | We brought our previously collected water samples from Ruhleben (with varying water cleanliness) for an analysis, 20 ml each. Following an incubation period we had our first peak at the results. Even after the water had passed every cleaning step, microplastic particles could still be found in our assay indicating that even though there are established cleaning methods in place they still are not sufficient. This underlines the need for new solutions and the potential that a Chlamy-based wastewater cleaning step has for a long-term conservation of clean water. | + | We brought our previously collected water samples from Ruhleben (with varying water cleanliness) for an analysis, 20 ml each. Following an incubation period we had our first peak at the results. Even after the water had passed every cleaning step, microplastic particles could still be found in this assay indicating that even though there are established cleaning methods in place they still are not sufficient. This underlines the need for new solutions and the potential that a Chlamy-based wastewater cleaning step has for a long-term conservation of clean water. |
| </p> | | </p> |
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| <b>Microplastic and Chlamy - A story of romance</b> <br>To improve the degradation of microplastic, we were looking for a way to bring Chlamy and our microplastic closer together. During our research we discovered the work of Dr. Bäumchen and his colleagues at Max Planck Institut Göttingen. The group investigated the flagella-mediated adhesion of Chlamydomonas on several surfaces. We reached out to Dr. Bäumchen to ask him about the adhesion properties of the flagella of Chlamy regarding PET surfaces. As the group had not performed any experiments at that point, Dr. Bäumchen was so kind to offer Darius to investigate the interaction with PET himself. During a two-week visit at the Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Darius measured the adhesion forces of the | | <b>Microplastic and Chlamy - A story of romance</b> <br>To improve the degradation of microplastic, we were looking for a way to bring Chlamy and our microplastic closer together. During our research we discovered the work of Dr. Bäumchen and his colleagues at Max Planck Institut Göttingen. The group investigated the flagella-mediated adhesion of Chlamydomonas on several surfaces. We reached out to Dr. Bäumchen to ask him about the adhesion properties of the flagella of Chlamy regarding PET surfaces. As the group had not performed any experiments at that point, Dr. Bäumchen was so kind to offer Darius to investigate the interaction with PET himself. During a two-week visit at the Institute for Dynamics and Self-Organization, Darius measured the adhesion forces of the |
| <i>Chlamydomonas</i> strain SAG 11-32b on PET. He discovered that the strain showed forces up to 5 nN which is comparable to measurements done by the group. The adhesion could be deactivated by incubation under red light. With this photo-switch-ability we hope to trigger the adhesion in our favour.</br></br></br><figcaption><b> <i>Chlamydomonas</i> on PET, Atomic Force Microscopy</b></br> | | <i>Chlamydomonas</i> strain SAG 11-32b on PET. He discovered that the strain showed forces up to 5 nN which is comparable to measurements done by the group. The adhesion could be deactivated by incubation under red light. With this photo-switch-ability we hope to trigger the adhesion in our favour.</br></br></br><figcaption><b> <i>Chlamydomonas</i> on PET, Atomic Force Microscopy</b></br> |
− | Adhesion forces of <i>Chlamydomonas</i> flagellar on PET. The algae is pushed against the PET suface and pulled of again wit the micropipette. During this process the pipette is deflected. Using the defelction and the spring constant of the pipette the adhesion force can be calculated.</figcaption> | + | Adhesion forces of <i>Chlamydomonas</i> flagellar on PET. The algae is pushed against the PET surface and pulled off again by the micropipette. During this process the pipette is deflected. Using the deflection and the spring constant of the pipette the adhesion force can be calculated.</figcaption> |
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| + | <img class="is-revealing" src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/8/8a/T--Humboldt_Berlin--integrated_hupa.png" alt="How we integrated" /> |
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| + | <h3 class="headline3">Summary: Our integrated Human Practices</h3> |
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| + | To find out how to design a setup in which microplastics could be degraded, we pondered two possible solutions; first, using the strain UVM4 which lacks flagella and would sediment in the secondary clarifier of a wastewater plant after degrading microplastics. To cultivate algae in an industrial scale we spoke with industrial algae producers like MINT and ALGOMED. Here we got the idea of using the PtxD gene, enabling Chlamydomonas to use phosphite as its sole phosphorus source, posing a big advantage in outdoor cultivation. |
| + | The second solution is using strain SAG11-32b, which shows adhesion to PET with its flagella. To test this hypothesis we went to the Max Planck Institute in Göttingen and performed atomic-force-microscopy measurements of the adhesion forces. |
| + | Finally, we worked together with cultivation experts like Dr. Ralf Steuer from our university who was a big help in finding the right approach for modeling. He also advised us to put our knowledge from human practices and theory in action to build a cultivation setup that can be used by the Synbio-community. |
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| + | <section class="learn-more"> |
| + | <h3>Learn more...</h3> |
| + | <div class="learn-more-links"> |
| + | <a href="/Team:Humboldt_Berlin/Public_Engagement"> |
| + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/1/17/T--Humboldt_Berlin--human-practice-header.jpg" alt="LNDW explain" /> |
| + | <h4>Education </br> </br>and Engagement</h4> |
| + | <p class="block-text"> |
| + | To show the public what we are doing, we organized various events and spread awareness about algae, genetic engineering and plastic pollution. |
| + | </p> |
| + | </a> |
| + | <a href="/Team:Humboldt_Berlin/Plant" class="white-text"> |
| + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2019/2/29/T--Humboldt_Berlin--plants.jpg" alt="plant" /> |
| + | <h4></br> </br>Plant Synthetic Biology</h4> |
| + | <p class="block-text"> |
| + | Curious about our synthetic biology approaches in algae? Read more about our Chlamy-HUB Collection here.</br> </br> |
| + | </p> |
| + | </a> |
| + | </div> |
| + | </section> |
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