Team:Tianjin/Design

/* OVERRIDE IGEM SETTINGS */

Design


Background

Human existence on earth is almost impossible without the heavy metals. Even though important to mankind, exposure to them during production, usage and their uncontrolled discharge into the environment has caused lots of hazards to man, other organisms and the environment itself. Heavy metals can enter human tissues and organs via inhalation, diet, and manual handling. As the process of urbanization and industrialization goes deeper and deeper, heavy metal pollution, a noticeable threaten to almost all the creatures, has become an essential problem to solve.

According to our human practice, the situation of heavy metal pollution (copper and cadmium ions) is marked on a world map, and the severity of heavy metal pollution has been increasing all over this map. Places with serious pollution include middle Asia, eastern Asia, southern Europe, and Latin America. In addition, not only fresh water source, but also soil and crops are seriously contaminated by heavy metals. On average, during three out of ten suppers we have, we absorb excess heavy metals over the standard concentration.

Considering the rigorous situation we face, our team decided to design an advanced system for typical toxic heavy metal disposal based on Saccharomyces cerevisiae.