Mapping microplastics from taps around the world
No fewer than eight iGEM teams chose microplastics as their theme this year. Being such a globally resented issue, it is only natural that it was chosen by so many motivated teams to find a solution using synthetic biology. What better opportunity to create a collaboration between the various teams to create a shared database precisely on microplastics?
It was with this in mind that the Stockholm iGEM group and iGEM VIT Vellore contacted us and asked us to participate in an experiment to collect data on the amount of microplastics found in tap water from different countries.
To do this, we had to follow a protocol, developed by iGEM VIT Vellore, which allowed us to quantify how many microplastics were in tap water.
As a sample, we took one liter of tap water and filtered it using a vacuum pump and a paper filter. Once the filtering stage was complete we stained the filter with a solution of Nile red and waited for the filter to dry, to speed up the process we placed the filter in the incubator at 60°C. Once dry, we observed the filter under the microscope looking for microplastics.
We repeated the experiment three times, each time using one liter of water, so that we could eventually average the results. Unexpectedly, we found a lot of microplastics in these samples, so we decided to alert our university, as the test had been done on tap water found on campus.
Participating in this project allowed us to get in touch with other iGEM teams who decided to commit themselves in the same direction as us and in this way to create a network of students with similar interests, while helping to create a shared database regarding important data, such as the quantity of microplastics found in tap water.
Mascot collaboration
The Plasticbusters team is very proud of its mascot Chip. Our E. coli bacterium, which collects plastics with its little portable vacuum cleaner, stole a piece of our hearts.
That's why when iGEM INSA ENS Lyon 1 contacted us proposing to create a 'family photo' with all the mascots of the iGEM 2023 teams, we immediately accepted. Together with other mascots from other teams, our Chip formed a cute souvenir photo of which we are very proud.
Together with Chip's picture we also wrote a small presentation text, so that all the other teams could get to know our legend.
“Let’s welcome this beautiful E. coli that is trying to suck up this plastic with a vacuum cleaner to try and clean the water streams. His name is Chip. Our project focuses on the creation of a bacterium capable of capturing microplastics. We were inspired by the film Ghostbusters, the only difference being that instead of capturing ghosts we capture plastic fragments.”
Collaboration poster with Patras Medicine
This year we celebrated International Health Day on 7 April. During this day, originally established by the World Health Organisation, various governments and associations organise health-themed awareness activities.
In honour of this day, the iGEM Patras Medicine team proposed a very interesting collaboration. The activity consisted of choosing a health-related quote and then creating a poster, decorated to our liking. Then each team took a picture with the poster and finally Patras Medicine created instagram posts portraying all the teams that participated in this collaboration.
It was a lot of fun to participate in this day because it allowed us to reflect on the topic of health and at the same time let our creativity run wild by decorating the poster.
The quote we chose is as follows:
“The more we see health as a practice rather than as a problem to fix, the more we encourage the body’s natural potential to be healthy.”
-Aarti Patel
This quote immediately caught our interest as it explores a different point of view. Following this perspective, health is not only to be dealt with when it is no longer present, and perhaps we are affected by illness or injury, but is an aspect to be cultivated on a daily basis in order to avoid, as far as possible, all less favourable incidents.
Swiss MeetUP Collaboration
In Switzerland, there are three teams taking part in iGEM this year; our team from the University of Lausanne, the team from EPFL (Lausanne) and the team from the University of Zurich.
Together we decided to organise a weekend to get to know each other, exchange ideas and advice about our projects and finally to hold a presentation of our project, followed by a mock judging session. To do this, we contacted former iGEM participants and assistants in order to receive the best possible feedback so that we could improve our project as much as possible and be better prepared for the real jamboree in Paris.
The weekend of activities took place in Zurich on the 2nd and 3rd of September. Saturday was entirely dedicated to getting to know each other. We organised a small barbecue, followed by a city tour in groups organised in the form of a treasure hunt. The next day we presented our projects in front of a small audience and received feedback from the judges present.
This meeting was the perfect event for us to make connections with the other Swiss teams and to get new ideas on how to proceed with our project.
