Team:CLS CLSG UK/Model
Credit - Roman Majer@unsplash
Modelling introduction
Our project aimed to create a filter using E.coli with a mutant enzyme to filter cocaine out of the Thames. In order to show that this mutant enzyme would be significantly more effective than CocE, we needed to calculate how quickly the cocaine would be broken down by each enzyme. This came with many complications since we had to account for the cocaine’s rate of diffusion across the E. coli membrane and calculate the concentration of the enzyme ourselves using an iterative model. For this reason our model consists of three parts, a rate of diffusion model, an iterative model finding maximum enzyme concentration and, building on these two, a rate of cocaine breakdown model.
Cocaine diffusion model
Our initial model aimed to calculate the rate of diffusion across the E-coli membrane.
Enzyme concentration model
Modelling production of enzyme by cell.
Total breakdown
Modelling the total amount of cocaine being broken down by the lamella clarifier.
Evalutaion and conclusion
Evaluating and concluding the overall results of our models