The News Lens
Date: 2019/10/18
By: By Daniel C. ’20 and Dhirpal S. ’20, Taipei American School
Photo Credit: Taipei American School
Taipei American School (TAS), an international school based in Shilin district, will be participating in the annual International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) competition in Boston from October 31 to November 4.
Representing Taiwan, the TAS students from the synthetic biology course will present a project on the detection of agricultural contaminants such as pesticides and heavy metals. The experiment team used synthetic biology to design DNA constructs that produce metal and pesticide binding proteins. These consist of numerous metal and pesticide binding proteins linked to different colors. After further testing on these constructs, they hope to find a visible concentration of the proteins so people can see the colored stains created by these proteins. Potentially, consumers would be able to dip their produce into the solution and observe a change in color, indicating the presence of metals and pesticides.
In coordination with the experiment team, the human practice team aims to raise public awareness about the harmful effects of agricultural contaminants on the environment and living organisms. Students have tackled this problem by creating surveys and infographics, contacting farmers and distributors, and reaching out to government officials through a policy brief. [FULL STORY]
