Eco Coli-2014

The Environment Friendly Eco.Coli

What is Eco.Coli?

Eco.Coli is a genetically engineered E.coli incorporating the genes that encode for the nitrite reductase enzyme NrfA and Cys1 and Sqr (Sulfide Quinone reductase) enzymes. 
NrfA reduces Nitrogen oxides to ammonia (NH3) while Cys1 and Sqr reduce sulphur dioxide (SO2) to hydrogen sulphide (H2S) and H2S to sulphur(S) respectively. The engineered bacteria would be immobilized on polymer beads -having a positive zeta potential- placed in a bio-reactor. Exhaust gases containing SOx and NOx will be passed through a heat exchanger too lower the temperature to about 37’C. The engineered bacteria will reduce the oxides present in the incoming gas stream and consequently reduce the percentage of oxides of nitrogen and sulphur in the outgoing gas stream.The supply of medium to the bacteria will be achieved using a medium storage tank, attached to the bioreactor.

Our proposed design is an effective model in terms of scalability as well. Depending on the site of installation (i.e.industrial chimney or in the exhaust of a vehicle), the volume of our inputs can be modeled to obtain the desired output. Moreover, the fact that all the sub-components of our model work independently of each other provides easy installation and maintenance.

Why Eco.Coli? 

In today’s modern world, greenhouse gases such as Nitrogen oxides and Sulphur oxides poses a global threat that needs to be addressed. These oxides are greenhouse gases and constitute a major component of most of the exhaust gases from industries and automobiles. They are the key oxidants responsible for the photochemical production of ozone at the lower altitudes of the atmosphere where the UV protective layer ozone turns averse with its detrimental effects and also leading to the increase in the oxidation potential of the atmosphere. These infamous greenhouse gases also leads to the corrosive and damaging acid rains. Sulfur Oxides are not only the root cause for many respiratory diseases varying from asthma to pneumonia but are also responsible for destroying crops, buildings and most importantly our environment. So the iGem Team IITD 2014 aims to solve this need of the hour issue by reducing the amount of these gases that come out from the exhaust vents using synthetic biology. Our work plan includes engineering of E.coli that will take up these harmful oxides and convert them into non-harmful compounds. This will be conjugated with the construction of a multi-component system which includes a heat exchanger, mini bioreactor and a media tank. 

Relevance to our country-India:

India is primarily an agrarian economy with 56% of the population involved in agricultural activities. If the production of NOx and SOx continues unabated like today, the damaging effects of acid rain on the crops will jeopardize the livelihoods of a large section of India’s population in the future which would have serious economic and social repercussions on the nation.Since our model makes use of bacteria instead of metallic catalysts to reduce the gases, the potential toxicity that would arise from metal by-products of catalyst degradation can be successfully eliminated. Hence, looking at all the positive aspects of our proposed model, we believe that it will help to create a greener and a healthier future.