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From 2010.igem.org

Background

Dissolved oil molecules in (waste) water are a serious threat to our ecosystem. One liter of oil pollutes 1,000,000 liters of drinking water. Chemicals are usually used to deal with this problem, but they in turn pollute them self. The iGEM team of this year builds on this global problem and seeks solutions from nature. Some organisms possess genetic properties that enable them to process oil in salty environments. The team will develop biobricks of these qualities so that it can be implemented in E.coli. This way we can contribute to the development of new bioremediation technologies by creating a bacterium that can purify water contaminated with oil.