Bulletin No. 1, 2012

Harnessing Bacterial Power 27  G o r d o n C h a n , a b i o chemi s t r y s tudent , s a i d, ‘iGEM of fe r s us a ra re opportunity to use state-of-the- art technological instruments and polish skills that are beyond t he bounda r i e s of the formal curriculum, i n c l ud i ng e x p e r ime n t a l techniques, writing skills, leadership skills, social skills, statistical analysis and presentation skills. The heavy workload also trained up my perseverance.’ The student s’ work was greatly acclaimed by the panel of judges. One of the judges, Prof. Mukund Thattai of the National Centre for Biological Sciences, India, who presented the team with the Be s t Bi oBrick Measurement Approach award, commented that the team had done extensive characterizations to the BioBrick which is well ready for use by the research community.  Another panel judge, Prof. Qi Ouyang of Peking University, who presented the team with the Bes t New BioBrick Par t ( Natural ) award, commended the team’s creativity in making use of an ion transporter found in bacteria to generate electricity.  team have two potential applications. They c an be us ed to make a ‘mi x ing - ent ropy ba t te r y ’ that takes advantage of the salinity difference between seawater and freshwater to produce electricity. They can also be used to de-salinate seawater to make drinkable water by controlling the HR with light so that chloride ions of seawater are absorbed by bacteria. Their ideas, if realized, can help address two pressing environmental issues: water and energy. T h e t e a m c o m p r i s e s f o u r professors (Prof. Chan Ting-fung Philos , Prof Chan King-ming , Prof. Kong Siu-kai and Prof. Yip Yuk-lap Kevin ), three student instructors, and 24 undergraduate students, including 19 life sciences students, f ou r e ng i n e e r i ng s t ud e n t s a nd on e chemistry student. These young researchers believe in Einstein’s words: ‘Imagination is more important than knowledge.’ Their imagination has opened up undreamed- of possibilities for HR. Their creative project won a gold medal at the iGEM (International Genetic Engineered Machine) Asia Regional Jamboree in October 2011. They also won the Best BioBrick Measurement Approach and the Best New BioBrick Part (Natural) awards.