PuiChing_Macau_HTPAS

The Puiching Macau team this year is looking to improve food supply. Supporting hydroponic farming using engineered bacteria：hormone-targeting and pH-adjusting systems

Due to the increasing food shortages caused by human conflicts and environmental issues such as global climate change, alternative sustainable food sources are needed to stabilize food supply. Our team considers hydroponics as a promising solution, which occupies less space than traditional farming methods and produces better yields. In addition, hydroponics would be placed in abandoned buildings and therefore the resulting food supplies to urban regions would reduce energy and carbon emission. However, hydroponics is not perfect yet.

One of its drawbacks is that the nutrition solution needs to be discarded regularly to prevent pH changes, which affect plant growth. This requires manual interference and is unsustainable. Here, we engineered E. coli to include a genetic pH Shooting (GPS) system which can neutralize the solution when needed. To further increase the yield, we also developed hormone binding domains (HBDs) to better regulate the release of hormones that would slow down plant growth, such as abscisic acid (ABA). After engineering, the E. coli we have generated is now able to produce hormone binding proteins, T2R4 and PYL8, which inhibits ABA.

2022 Awards

High School First runner-up

Best Hardware

Best Sustainable Development Impact