Project in the real world
One of the principal objectives of the iGEM competition is to give solutions to the real problems of today's society. So our proposal to tackle the lack of resources and global contamination is to use plants as a cheap, economical, and ecological way of sensing CO2 levels.
Exposure to carbon dioxide (CO2) poses direct risks to human health. Breathing oxygen-depleted air caused by extreme CO2 concentrations can lead to death by suffocation. The places where our project would be more beneficial would be places where the air quality is essential and where there are fewer resources.
The level of CO2 is indicative of a non ventilated place. These places are potential places to transmit viruses and where the accumulation of CO2 could be a problem. This is the reason why hospitals, schools, and pubs have electrical sensors of CO2. These spaces are places where there is a high concentration of people without ventilation or where there is a high transit of people.
An example of this could be the International Space Station, ISS, where every resource is costly and where energy is difficult to obtain. These plants could be a way of saving huge quantities of money and energy.
On the other hand, there are places in the world that do not have such a developed economy and they cannot afford some expenses such as having sensors to control air quality. In these places, air quality is as important as in more developed countries. Moreover, it could have an even greater impact due to sanitary deficits. So controlling air quality could prevent a lot of health costs.