Microplastics are found in the water, air, and even human placentas. iGEM Stockholm has taken the first step in making microplastic detection accessible and affordable for all.
IGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) is the largest synthetic biology competition in the world. This year, 400 multidisciplinary teams are working on designing techniques and building biological devices that will bring novel solutions to everyday problems facing the world. It's now the 20th year of this competition that brings students together and gives them a long-lasting experience.
Detection of microplastics
iGEM Stockholm is a team of 17 passionate young scientists – international students from KTH, Karolinska Institutet, and Stockholm University. Tanvi Garg is studying medical biotechnology at KTH. She is also one of the two Project Leads of the team, and she tells us more.
– Together, we have taken the first step in making microplastic detection accessible and affordable for all, explains Tanvi Garg.
The team is working on the problem with micro- and nanoplastics, i.e., particles ranging from the nanometre scale up to 5 mm, nanoplastics even invisible to the eye. These particles harm our health and ecosystems even though we still have little understanding of the extent of the threat that microplastics pose, according to the IGEM team. Scientists find microplastics almost everywhere: in drinking water, air, and even human placentas.
– We don't know how much plastics there are in the water. It's hard to detect it with existing techniques, and it takes a long time to do it, she says.
The scientific community has been calling for an increase in the monitoring of microplastics, but there are obstacles to detecting it. Many labs search for a solution to biodegradation of microplastics.
Environmentally friendly
The iGEM Stockholm team has invented a bioluminescent biosensor for microplastic detection.
– Given the contaminant's alarming effects on aquatic ecosystems, we focus on detecting microplastics in water samples. Inspired by nature's very own light show, we aim to make the invisible become visible with our bioluminescent microplastic biosensor, says Tanvi Garg.
The biosensor is an environmentally friendly way to deal with this problem: a fusion protein to detect the microplastics. It contains multiple parts that glow so that they can detect the microplastics.
Cooperation is the key
iGEM Stockholm has students in medical biology, life science, and chemistry. The team was divided into sub-groups;
- The research team, which contains the wet lab and the dry lab team, was responsible for designing and carrying out the experiments to achieve the proof of concept;
- The finance team that was responsible for scholarships, funding, and the business model;
- The media team that was responsible for the coordination and communication with fellow teams, maintaining the websites and presentation videos;
- The human practices team was responsible for creating public awareness about the topic and getting more informed by organizing interviews and meetings with the leading people in the field, which they did by organizing various workshops and seminars for all the different age groups. For toddlers and kids, there are coloring books in different languages. For middle school, there was a workshop with AstraZeneca during the summer; for high school, there was a laboration. Senior citizens had their workshop, and iGEM Stockholm has set up video games that, with human practices, helped create awareness about the problem.
– Every team works with their goal, and me and the other project leader, Ellen Shute, coordinate. In the teams, we discuss what we want to achieve and if it's possible. Some of the work must be done earlier therefore everyone can't work at the same time. We all help each other at different times and attain better results together, says Tanvi Garg.
Much appreciated project
– We addressed the concerning issue of microplastics and discussed it with multiple people in the industry. We visited the wastewater treatment plant at Henriksdal to understand the applications of our project better, she says.
They participated in Swedish and Nordic conferences and collaborated with fellow iGEM teams to brainstorm the ideas and solutions.
They collaborated with the iGEM team VIT-Vellore and organised an online seminar to create awareness about microplastics, which was a success, says Tanvi Garg.
– Finally, we presented our project at the Final Jamboree in Paris on November 2-5, where we interacted and exchanged ideas with teams from all across the globe and delved into the world of synthetic biology. We also got a chance to present our project to the investors and the people from industry, says Tanvi Garg.
By the end of the Jamboree, they got a funding opportunity from one of the investors present and won a Gold medal.
– Everyone in our team thought the Jamboree was great and absolutely worth the effort. We saw so many good innovations – just amazing! she says.
Advantages with participating
– iGEM is a great learning experience that teaches us how to start a synthetic biology project from scratch, work with a team, and learn new things with each other. It helps us develop the mentality of dealing with the problems collectively as a team and individually, says Tanvi Garg.
She says it features how to lead staff. Everyone contributes to the discussions, constantly presenting what they do and how the work advances. This boosts the morale of the team, which is a nice thing.
– If something was really boring, we used to meet and eat pizza together and work on it! Tanvi Garg finishes.
iGEM Stockholm 2023 webpage >>
Text: Christina Jägare