The greatest threat to our aquatic ecosystems exists at a microscopic scale.

Microplastics and nanoplastics are plastic particles that range from the nanometre scale up to 5mm, with nanoplastics being invisible to the naked eye. Almost everywhere scientists have looked they have found microplastics, from drinking water to the air we breathe, microplastics have even been found in human placentas.

Only now are we beginning to understand the detrimental impacts microplastics have on our own health and that of ecosystems.

The threat is huge.
Microplastics and nanoplastics are notoriously hard to detect and quantify.

Any solution relies on an understanding of the problem it is trying to tackle. The truth is that we, as a global community, have very little understanding of the threat that microplastics pose. The scientific community has been calling for an increase in microplastic monitoring. However, any monitoring efforts face the obstacle of microplastic detection.

This is the challenge that we aim to solve with LuciPEP.

Inspired by natures very own light show, we aim to make the invisible visible with our bioluminescent microplastic biosensor. iGEM Stockholm is made up of a team of 17 passionate young scientists. Together we have taken the first step in making microplastic detection accessible and affordable for all.