Ketto Description
| Date | |
|---|---|
| Department | Sponsorship |
| Description | Write-up and Illustration for the Ketto Page |
| HP sub-branch | |
| Links/media | |
| Participants |  ARSH SHAIKH AKASH DUTTA |
| Property | |
| Property 1 | |
| Property 2 | |
| Type | Deliverables |
Tasks
| Name | Due Date | Status | Assigned to | Material |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Write Up | Completed | AKASH DUTTA | Below this Table | |
| Illustrations | Completed | ARSH SHAIKH SANJANA VASANTH | https://tubikstudio.medium.com/how-to-create-original-flat-illustrations-tips-from-graphic-designer-e52e8ebee700 | |
| Main Cover | Completed |  Soorya NarayanSANJANA VASANTH |
Write Up
Climate change is quickly becoming a by-word in day-to-day life. As extreme weather events become increasingly common - from heatwaves to floods, from forest fires to cyclones - more and more of us are turning our attention to our carbon footprint. And yet, world leaders are sadly unable to keep up with their own promises: our current path may lead to a mean temperature increase of over 3 degrees Celsius, which is enough to melt most of the ice on earth, which can lead to sea levels rising by 10 to 60 meters! There are, however, other things you can help us do to mitigate this failure.
Carbon capture refers to a set of methods to remove carbon dioxide from the atmosphere instead of merely reducing emissions. You might think this is what plants do - and yes! You're right! But there are ways to do it better. Tiny microbes called cyanobacteria - the lifeforms that pioneered photosynthesis - are as much as 18 times more efficient at this than plants! Research has indicated that there are ways to use biotechnology to get this carbon dioxide fixed as sugar (using cyanobacteria). This sugar can be used to power other bacteria to sustainably produce industrially relevant products - such as biodegradable plastics and biofuels. This gives companies an economic incentive to actually use this technology and bring down CO levels - if you can help us develop it.
We are a team of undergraduate students at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research (IISER) at Pune. Under the mentorship of Prof. Thomas Pucadyil and a group of Ph.D. students, we wish to build on previous research to develop a co-culture of Synechococcus elongatus and Escherichia coli to fix CO2, convert it to sucrose, and then produce succinic acid - an industrially useful compound, especially in the context of bioplastic production. We intend to submit this project for iGEM - a worldwide biotechnology competition for students of science that emphasises producing open-access research - meaning anybody, anywhere can build upon this once we're done. And this is where we need your help: please donate to our team and help us make this idea a reality!