Lincoln Biomedical

Overview: Human folly had no boundaries, global warming was a direct result of human activity. The melting of the polar caps set the dawn of a brave new WaterWorld! Humanity rebuilds itself on floating plastic garbage islands, facing daunting health problems due to microplastics.

Project Initiation: Science itself holds the key to our own generation’s survival. In this project, we will develop humanity’s “Plan B” to survive in a flooded world polluted with plastics. Today, humans are thought to consume 5 grams of plastic per week, carrying pollutants such as pesticides, causing serious health issues. For this reason, we propose the use of CRISPR-CAS9 –a gene-modifying tool–to engineer gut bacteria to eat away microplastics, allowing humans to thrive in this brave new WaterWorld.

Project Exploration and Development: As students, we have ownership of the project after team development and community building activities. Critical thinking, creative design and strengthening of leadership skills were achieved through literature review and project design. We acquired interdisciplinary experience through activities in our ELA and Biomed courses and interaction with our teachers. Weekly discussions with visiting UCSD medical students and field trips to Vertex Pharmaceuticals have forged an understanding of healthcare professions, research and development, and education in our society. Finally, advice from a visiting chemist from Genomatica has enhanced our reflection of how genetically engineered bacteria is used to produce polymers from simple sugars (instead of petroleum) to make items for human consumption

Project Revision and Exhibition: Our teachers met with us regularly to brainstorm ideas in the project development, and gave us a rubric with the criteria to be met. We had freedom to create our POL and the time for us to review each other’s work. Importantly, we counted with advice from a visiting chemist from Genomatica, who performed a critical review of our proposed biomedical innovation. Finally, we will present our work at Lincoln’s “Big Night” on May 17th, where industry partners will provide us feedback on our project

Teachers and Subjects: Geanncarlo Lugo--Principles in Biomedical Sciences, Amy Boden -- English

Industry Sector: Health Science and Medical Technology