"
Team:SDU-Denmark/Tour20
From 2013.igem.org
| Line 16: | Line 16: | ||
</p> | </p> | ||
| - | <a class="popupImg alignRight" style="width:300px" target="_blank" href="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2013/c/c0/SDU2013_Rubber_Issue_1.jpg" title=""> | + | <a class="popupImg alignRight" style="width:300px" target="_blank" href="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2013/c/c0/SDU2013_Rubber_Issue_1.jpg" title="The extraction of rubber from Hevea brasiliensis"> |
| - | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2013/ | + | <img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/2013/5/54/SDU2013_Small_Rubber_Issue_1.jpg" style="width:300px" /> |
The extraction of rubber from Hevea brasiliensis | The extraction of rubber from Hevea brasiliensis | ||
</a> | </a> | ||
Revision as of 11:09, 29 September 2013
The rubber issue
A grasp of the problem
“The increasing demand for rubber and the inferior properties of synthetic rubber call for development of new innovative sources of natural rubber.“ - iGEM SDU 2013
The rubber demand is growing by 5-6% annually. At present, 40% of the global rubber demand is satisfied by natural rubber while the remaining 60% comes from synthetic rubber, and it is noteworthy that the fraction of natural rubber is increasing. The fact that synthetic rubber can’t fully mimic all the properties of natural rubber necessitates the use of natural rubber in the production of quality seals, tires, latex gloves, condoms, etc. The increasing demand for rubber and the inferior properties of synthetic rubber call for development of new innovative sources of natural rubber. Source: Tanaka, Y., and J. T. Sakdapipanich. 2001. Chemical structure and occurrence of natural polyisoprenes, p. 1-25.
The extraction of rubber from Hevea brasiliensis
The primary source of natural rubber is the rubber tree with approximately 11.3 million tons of natural rubber produced worldwide in 2012 - and the amount is increasing. Though increasing ease of modern world gene technology have given rise to high-yielding Nigerian clones, the production still requires vast amount of plantations. Source: K.O. Omokhafe and J.E. Alika 2003 and IRSG
These plantations need areas of distinct climate conditions. Furthermore, the tree is slow-growing and incapable of producing any rubber its first 7 years, making it difficult to establish new plantations. Source: Alexander Steinbüchel 2003 These problems can all be solved by implementing the usage of bacteria in the production of rubber.
Dig deeper to get a glimpse of the current state of rubber production, how dark the future looks and how bright we turn it
Fast forward to learn more about our vision of a production system.
