Overview

It was important to our team that we considered all technical, safety, ethical and socio-cultural concerns regarding implementation. To ensure this was achieved, our team decided to implement a two-phase project.

In Phase I, our team worked with the model organism, E. Coli, to solidify the foundations of our design. Phase II , will see this knowledge expanded in hardware design phase, when we apply these systems to real world by designing a bioreactor device.

Throughout our project, our journey has been entirely realistic, and it was no different for proposed implementation. When considering implementation, going back to our stakeholders and experts helped us close the loop, and ensured that the ethical, technical, safety and communication decisions we made were informed by their needs.

Integrate stakeholders and experts advice

With the help of stakeholders, we communicated with the community and discussed the issue of sewage treatment. We fully combine the suggestions and needs of stakeholders, and determine the positioning of the product on the premise of understanding the market as a whole.

In addition, we have consulted with experts and scholars from the environmental sciences, life sciences, and industry so that our projects can actually be implemented. We also reflected on safety and socio-cultural concerns.

Please refer to integrated human practices for detailed information.

Demonstrate the feasibility of biofilm adsorption effect

We have to firstly verify that our design can make effects so as to envision others using our product. we modified E. coli biofilms to adsorb heavy metal ions in sewage. Modeling guides cells and carriers input for actual wastewater treatment to satisfy the effluent discharge standard.

Please refer to proof of concept for detailed information.

Resolve the disconnect between science and society

We designed a hardware prototype that integrates experimental and modeling results. The water purification improvement process can be intuitively delivered through hardware design.

We planned to utilize our product to replace the ion exchange or chemical precipitation method in the electronic factories. Our product will not introduce other harmful chemicals into the water. As a result, we could use this biological method for refined adsorption.

Why our hardware could be implemented in the real world:

Please refer to hardware for detailed information.

Challenges and biosafety Concerns

When considering implementation, we also need to ensure that the safety and ethical concerns are fully considered. We consulted the Executive Vice President of Jiangxi Eco-Dao Environmental Technology Development Cooperation.

During the interview, she showed a high level of appreciation for our products and thought our ideas were innovative and had practical application possibilities.

However, the following aspects should be taken into account:

In response to these problems, we have also thought about solutions and even compiled a handbook for reference.