Using Biotechnology to Solve a World Problem
For this project, we were given a great amount of freedom. We were tasked with using biotechnology and any resources we could get our hands on to try and solve a world problem. Our group chose to attempt cleaning up oil spills using oil consuming microbes. Oil spills have become a major problem since the first offshore oil rig built in 1896, and became a larger problem with the first major oil spill in 1967. Our procedure could protect wildlife, and if followed correctly, could be the first to successfully clean up oil spills completely.
Concepts:
Biotechnology is the exploitation of biological processes for industrial and other purposes, especially the genetic manipulation of microorganisms for the production of antibiotics, hormones, etc.
Reflection:
Overall, I really enjoyed this project. I learned a tremendous amount about oil spills and got a great deal of information on the science behind the solution from contacting a PhD student, which was really helpful. That email went well. I also wish we could have had more resources to go through the procedure and start actually solving the problem. I learned that oil spills are a really tough problem to solve through the research I did. I gained the skill of finding the right people and asking them detailed questions, a skill I developed from writing to the PhD student. I thought that our procedure might have been slightly more specific, but with that being said almost no one knows of a detailed way to clean up oil spills. I also think that I could have continually attempted to improve our slideshow and other elements of the project instead of waiting for the next stage of the project to be assigned.
Overall, I really enjoyed this project. I learned a tremendous amount about oil spills and got a great deal of information on the science behind the solution from contacting a PhD student, which was really helpful. That email went well. I also wish we could have had more resources to go through the procedure and start actually solving the problem. I learned that oil spills are a really tough problem to solve through the research I did. I gained the skill of finding the right people and asking them detailed questions, a skill I developed from writing to the PhD student. I thought that our procedure might have been slightly more specific, but with that being said almost no one knows of a detailed way to clean up oil spills. I also think that I could have continually attempted to improve our slideshow and other elements of the project instead of waiting for the next stage of the project to be assigned.