Team:CPU CHINA/Human Practices

SUMMARY

The inspiration for our project comes from express delivery that brings great convenience to our daily life.

At the initial stage, we noticed through the investigation of express depositories that the usage of plastic packaging in express delivery is huge but it cannot be recycled. After reviewing literature and discussing with our team members, we tried to degrade polyethylene (PE), the main component of plastic packaging, through synthetic biology.

Next, we visited garbage transit stations, PE recycling companies and landfills to explore the entire treatment process of discarded PE. According to the information we obtained, we improved project design and clarified our product positioning.

During the project advancement stage, we received guidance from relevant experts in electroporation of Pichia pastoris, protein purification, and the detection of degradation products. We improved our experimental design and solved the difficulties encountered in the experimental process. At the same time, we actively contacted experts in the field of plastic degradation to consult their feedback on our project. We also positively participated in the exchanges between iGEMers, reached cooperation with different teams, and jointly promoted the development of the project.

In the later stage of the project development, we interacted with PE recycling companies, "Internet Plus" service company, the Ecological Environment Bureau and intellectual property experts to explore the business model and promotion plan of the product. We also prepared for patent applications in the future.

In the whole project of CPU_CHINA in 2021, our human practices work has been organically combined with academic and mathematical modeling work, which has promoted the progress of our project at different stages. The entire process of human practices also provides inspiration for our future development. Perhaps we can go beyond PE degradation to explore the possibility of project implementation in the real world in more aspects such as ecological restoration, basic scientific research, analysis and detection.