Mission Statement: Our group set out intending to solve the problem of coastal flooding in New York City. Specifically, the Grace Church bio-design team focused on flooding as the result of hurricanes and storms. Before our group settled on our final project, we explored multiple different areas of focus. First we attempted to create a brick that would absorb water through Osmosis. Theoretically, the water would have made the brick denser and heavier, which would reinforce the wall. Our teacher, Ms. Dilley, eventually introduced us to Lisa Dokken, a Biodesign specialist. Ms. Dokken introduced us to the mucin of the banana slug. After discovering the capabilities of mucin, we determined that the brick would be less effective. The mucin of a banana slug, after absorbing a quantity of water, would already have expanded after a second. Our final design attempts to harness the capabilities of this mucin to absorb flood water on the borders of Manhattan and Rockaway.

The Banana Slug: Banana slugs are a type of North American slug that can grow to be 9.8 inches, or twenty-five centimeters. The banana slug is the second largest type of slug in North America. However, the key property of this slug is its mucin. The banana slug secretes a dry powder out of its body. When this powder comes in contact with water, it will expand and absorb the water, forming a saliva. This mucin is actually a defensive mechanism. If one were to touch this mucin for an extended period of time, his / her hand would become numb. For our project, we sourced the mucin for its eco-friendly water absorbing capabilities.