Bioremediation

Introduction

Oil spills, plastic trash, and other industrial contamination places an untold burden on the world's fragile ecosystems. We can work to reduce further pollution and spills, but how do we remove what's already there? Scientist are harnessing nature to help clean up our mess using a method called bioremediation. The process uses living organisms (often microbes, fungi, plants, or some aquatic species) to digest the harmful pollutants into harmless products. Many of the organisms, termed bioremediators, already exist in nature.

Engineered microbes could be designed, using some of the genes found in naturally occurring organisms, to quickly and efficiently remove pollutants from a site. However, there are risks to releasing a genetically engineered organism into the environment to divide uncontrollably. To keep their creations in check, scientist have designed "kill switch" DNA for their genetically engineering organisms to keep them under control. The "kill switch" works by making the bacteria dependent on a synthetic compound not found in nature. If the genetically engineered bacteria escape outside of their containment area or laboratory, they won't be able to find the synthetic compound, the "kill switch" will activate, and the bacteria will die.

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SIM Background Download Here (jpeg)

Challenge Mat Materials:

1 challenge mat (see above)

8 "toxic chemicals" (each consists of 1 ball bearing on top of 1 circular magnet)

red felt circles ("synthetic compounds," can use up to 50 on the challenge mat)

Programming Challenge:

In this challenge, the robot is a model for an engineered bioremediator. Ball bearings and magnets (when connected) form a harmful chemical, but on their own they are harmless. Program the robot to find the ball bearing/magnet "chemical" and separate it into its harmless components using an "enzyme" (the robot arm or mechanism you design to separate the ball bearing from the magnet).

Requirements:

You must also include a "kill switch" in your program. Red dots, scattered on the mat, model a synthetic compound not found in nature. Your robot must use the presence of these red dots to "survive". When these red dots are removed, your robot must "die" (end program, leave the mat, etc.).

Bonus challenge:

To keep the "chemical" from reforming, remove one component (either the ball bearing or the magnet) from the mat after the "chemical bond" is broken. The robot can toss the component off the mat or collect it in a basket or bucket built on to the robot.

Questions to guide your reading:

What is bioremediation and how is it used?
What pollutants can be removed from the environment using in situ bioremediation?
How are scientist engineering organisms for bioremediation?
Why are scientists adding "kill switches" to the DNA of genetically modified organisms?

Reading material

Images

https://www.scientificamerican.com/slideshow/gulf-oil-eating-microbes-slide-show/