Team:Hong Kong HKU/Contribution
Contribution
iGEM Cyanobacteria Projects Database
A database of all previous iGEM teams from 2015 - 2020 working on PETase, MHETase, and plastics degradation was compiled to assist future teams working on these areas in their research. This time frame was selected as more recent projects likely build on past knowledge. While we are aware the phoenix project has a similar database, we understand going through the database can still be tedious and time-consuming. We have hence created a database ourselves to expedite the research process.Database of iGEM PETase, MHETase, Plastics Degradation Projects*
*Co-culture and cyanobacteria has been also been included as a category label, but only includes iGEM projects in the context of plastics degradation
Cyanobacteria guide
We were freed from the difficult decision of selecting our cyanobacteria species and strain as we based our co-culture system on a paper. Later research by our team showed areas for improvement in our design, such as selecting a strain that had a faster growth rate. This would have allowed us to gain experimental results more quickly. We created a cyanobacteria guide to hopefully spark inspiration and offer insight into the diverse world of cyanobacteria for iGEM teams that wish to incorporate it in their project. Our cyanobacteria guide details characteristics of some S. elongatus strains, cyanobacteria isolation and culture considerations, engineering cyanobacteria, and safety and risk factors. It also includes protocols where relevant.