Parts Contribution
Uestc-China team has successfully uploaded a comprehensive set of 18 New Basic Parts and 9 Composite Parts, offering an eco-friendly solution for future teams to tackle the pressing issue of plastic pollution. These parts are meticulously designed to address various aspects of plastic management, including the detection of microplastics, the degradation of PET, and the upcycling of waste into high-value products like vanillin, as well as advancements in genetic engineering to enhance vanillin production by disabling the YahK gene, which degrades vanillin, thus increasing the yield of this valuable compound
By integrating these parts into a diverse range of microbial chassis, such as E. coli BL21(DE3), we provide a flexible platform that can be adapted to various applications. This not only broadens the scope of potential solutions but also serves as a foundation for further research. The sequences can be optimized to enhance enzyme functionality or to engineer novel degradation pathways, ensuring that our contributions lay the groundwork for innovative approaches to plastic degradation and management.
We anticipate that these efforts will pave the way for subsequent iGEM teams to develop cutting-edge solutions in the field of plastic waste management, fostering a sustainable future through biotechnology.
Parts
Model Contribution
We developed a deep learning model based on Raman spectroscopy to classify microplastics using a random forest model, which provides assistance for us to identify microplastics using colorimetry and verify the results of colorimetry
We have also developed a multi-step virtual screening model based on language models, molecular docking, and molecular dynamics simulations to identify beneficial mutations and predict efficient degradation enzymes. In our recent efforts in the field of iGEM mathematical modeling project, we carefully used molecular simulation methods to elucidate the impact of checkpoint-specific mutations on the MHETase enzyme. Our empirical findings demonstrate that the enzyme activity of MHETase is significantly enhanced.
By slightly modifying the above steps to combine mutation scanning and molecular simulation, we identified beneficial mutations and targeted the prediction of higher-specificity recognition peptide TA2 M2. Better optimization of colorimetry.
Model
Education Contribution
In order to call on people to reduce the pollution of microplastics and promote the concept of abandoning plastic and reducing pollution, our team has developed an educational game - PETkiller. Future teams can use it to popularize content related to synthetic biology. Our protagonist Spetex will remove microplastics while avoiding plastic monsters and contribute to environmental protection. We design a series of interesting and challenging levels that combine education with entertainment, allowing players to enjoy the game while understanding the current situation of plastic pollution, and spreading environmental knowledge through popular science videos.
https://spetex-uestc.netlify.app/Education
Hardware Contribution
In order to better detect and degrade microplastics, we designed and fabricated a hardware device. After careful experimentation, our device is well adapted to our needs for microplastic treatment. The complex design of various hardware modules provides a reasonable solution to the problem of microplastic pollution. The device includes two parts: detection and degradation. In the part of detection, we used colorimetric method to fit the concentration of microplastics. In the degraded part, we successfully obtained the decomposed products by PET degradation. We expect that our hardware device will provide some insights and problem-solving methods for the subsequent development of better devices.
Hardware