Seabound Plastic Eating Fungus

The Problem

Removing plastic pollution in the ocean, from the microscale up

Our Proposal

We modify the plastic eating fungus, P. microspora, to be saltwater tolerant through directed evolution techniques. Then we use the fungus to devour the plastic.

We Assume that...

We assume that salinity tolerance can be over expressed through directed evolution.

We assume that the fungus will select for plastics, as opposed to just being another ambient consumptive force.

Constraints to Overcome

Testing is our biggest barrier. We want to sequence our new organism to test for unique expression. We also need to set up tiny "micro ocean environments" akin to professional salt water tanks, that allow us to watch the effects of the organism.

Current Work

Our major tasks include: sequencing the genome of our prototype fungus, verifying that the over-expression of the salt water tolerant gene did in fact occur, developing next steps based on lab results, cultivating a strand 2.0 and testing for efficiency. Culturing the fungus in region specific tanks, distributing the fungal strains to independent laboratories for independent testing, confirming results, creating marketing campaign and contacting media, forming deals with environmental conservation groups, shipping out fungus for field testing, analyzing field results, adjusting fungus accordingly, increase in marketing and presentation of data to larger government based organizations.

Current Needs

We have a well formed group of scientists assisting us in this project and a fairly well built infrastructure for supporting the experiments. What we require most is capital to spend on gene sequencing, outreach, and equipment such as tanks, air pumps, scales, etc.