Team:SDU-Denmark/Tour61

Next steps to bring it further

It is simply to easy to stop now

Following the confirmation of the cells’ rubber producing capabilities, the next step is to optimize production. This includes:

• - removal of unnecessary pathways in order to minimize the energy consumption of non-rubber producing processes in the cell;
• - further optimizing the MEP pathway, making sure the products are converted to IPP and do not exit to vitamin B1;
• - optimizing the prenyltransferase/MEP pathway ratio for rubber synthesis, so as not to waste energy on making more IPP than the prenyltransferase can use;
• - Finding the optimal concentration of bacteria before inducing rubber synthesis;
• - improving the methods of rubber extraction;
• - For potential perfection: building the system in Cyanobacteria where the energy source is photosynthesis that runs on sunlight and carbon dioxide, thereby bypassing issues of crop usage in bacterial media.

When the production is optimized, it is time to look at the big scale production. Going from erlenmeyer flask production to industrial production introduces new challenges. The design of the containers is to be tested: maybe the bacteria can all be in one tank, perhaps it is more efficient to have several smaller tanks. Next, staff is to be educated on how to treat the bacteria and extract the rubber.

When all the practical issues of implementation are settled, and the production has started, the fun begins: if possible, allow the rainforest to regrow. Otherwise, use the now redundant conventional plantations for new crops, giving a chance for local farmers to provide much-needed agricultural produce.