Team:NCTU Formosa/Sustainable
SDGs about E. Hybrid
Our E. coli has two interesting characteristics. First, it can use light as an energy source to produce additional ATP for growth and protein expression, which meets the seventh SDGs of using affordable and clean energy. Second, the GR-expressing bacteria displayed enhanced growth and protein expression, satisfying the twelfth SDGs of creating a strain of E. coli that produce protein effectively and efficiently.
With E. Hybrid, we can use solar power as an alternative to carbon for producing various protein products. With further development, this system can be extended past the applications of this project (ex. agricultural, medicinal, environmental uses) and may be used to contribute to sustainable cities and communities in many ways. Additionally, we created an environmentally-friendly device made of wood that can be entirely solar-powered.
Working on E. Hybrid presented the opportunity to collaborate with biotechnology companies such as TWBIO to apply our ideas to the real world. TWBIO proposed using E. Hybrid to efficiently produce COVID-19 spike proteins, making them more accessible to researchers trying to develop new methods to combat the virus.
As the population skyrockets, food production is struggling to meet the demands of people worldwide. Especially with the recent pandemic, resources are in serious deficiency. Though they affect every country, such shortages seriously impact third world countries. Therefore, our ultimate goal is to finish developing E. Hybrid and expanding its applications (ex. enhance food/medicine production) and donate it to foundations for disaster reliefs to improve resource disparity.
Figure 1: Sustainable cities and communities:Qalang Smangus
Science Communication
Throughout our project, we strived to promote both our project and synthetic biology to as wide an audience as possible. These are some of the ways we tried ensure equitable quality education.
First, all our activities were free of charge. Anyone interested in synthetic biology could learn from our Instagram fan pages and our conferences.
Second, all of our science communication was open to everyone on our Facebook fan pages so that everyone can participate.
Third, the materials we use to promote synthetic biology education were accessible to all groups of people in both English and Chinese.
Figure 2: NCTU & Goto and play
Figure 3: Taiwan Conference