Team:IISc-Bangalore

iGEM Wiki | IISc Bangalore

Almost half of India's population relies on agriculture as the primary source of income

Farmers spray pesticides to prevent their crops from being ravaged by pests, and thus improve agronomic productivity

Organophosphates are the most widely used pesticides in India. They kill pests by acting as neurotoxins and inhibiting normal functioning of the nervous system.

They leach into water bodies through agricultural runoff, thus contaminating aquatic ecosystems.

Organophosphates are not removed by conventional filtration processes. Traces of organophosphates thus enter the bodies of various living beings, including humans through the oral route.

The neurotoxic activity of organophosphates is not limited to pests. Once consumed by humans or other animals unintentionally through food and water, they exert similar effects on human nervous system. This poisoning by organophosphates leads to chronic and acute disorders like hyperactivity, lethargy and even cancer.

Our Solution:
CellOPHane

a plug-n-play filter to combat organophosphate pollution

We have developed a bacterial cellulose based filter to combat organophosphate pollution.

CellOPHane employs a bacterial cellulose sheet coated with enzymes to degrade organophosphates into harmless products.

Besides this, CellOPHane is all about a modular plug-n-play filter, which can be used as a platform to design other enzyme-based bioremediation strategies without any changes in the implementation!

Almost half of India's population relies on agriculture as the primary source of income

Farmers spray pesticides to prevent their crops from being ravaged by pests, and thus improve agronomic productivity

Organophosphates are the most widely used pesticides in India. They kill pests by acting as neurotoxins and inhibiting normal functioning of the nervous system.

They leach into water bodies through agricultural runoff, thus contaminating aquatic ecosystems.

Organophosphates are not removed by conventional filtration processes. Traces of organophosphates thus enter the bodies of various living beings, including humans through the oral route.

The neurotoxic activity of organophosphates is not limited to pests. Once consumed by humans or other animals unintentionally through food and water, they exert similar effects on human nervous system. This poisoning by organophosphates leads to chronic and acute disorders like hyperactivity, lethargy and even cancer.

Our Solution: CellOPHane

a plug-n-play filter to combat organophosphate pollution

We have developed a bacterial cellulose based filter to combat organophosphate pollution.

CellOPHane employs a bacterial cellulose sheet coated with enzymes to degrade organophosphates into harmless products.

Besides this, CellOPHane is all about a modular plug-n-play filter, which can be used as a platform to design other enzyme-based bioremediation strategies without any changes in the implementation!

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