Team:SDU-Denmark/Tour62

Reality in prospect

Can Bacteriorganic Rubber make a difference?

"With the right funding and well-educated work, our ideas seem reasonably realistic." - iGEM SDU 2013

For our system to be implemented for industrial production of rubber, all points described under “next step to bring it further” need to be addressed. Our project points in the direction of bacterial rubber production, paving the way for future projects and research. Along the way, we characterized genes, which have potential to be used with radically different outcomes. Dxs may be used if an increase in vitamin B₁ is desired, and our LacI system, controlling transcription of a gene of interest, can be applied to almost any gene expression system. Both constructs have been added to the Parts Registry. With the right funding and well-educated work, our ideas seem reasonable realistic.

Upon completion, Bacteriorganic Rubber could make a difference: Rubber production would be faster and better for the environment. Faster because the tank of bacteria can be harvested in one go, instead of one tree at a time and the 7 years of the maturation of the tree is bypassed; Better for the environment as deforestation becomes unnecessary, and the demand for natural rubber is met by bacterial production.