I. Research
Before starting the design of our project, we turned to our communities to see what challenges they were facing and how we could use Synthetic Biology to help. We came across the contamination in the Island of Vieques and the health and biodiversity consequences faced.
II.Identify a Problem
<p style="text-indent:40px; margin-left:7%; margin-right:7%"> We researched further into this situation and after consulting with experts in the field, we identified Mercury and RDX as two of the most present contaminants that we could bioremediate using Synthetic Biology.
III. Finding the Solution
<p style="text-indent:40px; margin-left:7%; margin-right:7%"> We found past IGEM projects that focused on the bioremediation of Mercury and used these ideas to create our own. We also found genes that can biodegrade RDX that we could implement as well.
IV. Design
<p style="text-indent:40px; margin-left:7%; margin-right:7%"> Working on our solution, we decided to construct genetic circuits that would help us achieve the bioremediation of Mercury and the biodegradation of RDX. During this process, we consulted different individuals about their perspectives of the situation including our Advisors & Primary Investigators, citizens, engineers, professors and students.
V. Phase II Preparation
<p style="text-indent:40px; margin-left:7%; margin-right:7%"> Due to Covid-19, there are many things we were not able to do. We did not have access to the lab, nevertheless we could prepare a plan to return to the lab, a proposal to gain access to Vieques, a hardware competition and an experimental design for the next cycle. We will also take into consideration the judges’ feedback after this year’s competition for the improvement of our project
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