UM-Maastricht iGem 2024 Team-Natronaut

This year's UM-iGem team Natronaut is asking for your help!

- Who are we?

The 2024 UM-iGEM team is made up of 13 members from various scientific backgrounds. iGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) competition, is a synthetic biology competition organised by MIT with a final Jamboree event hosted every year in October. With students from both the Maastricht Science Programme and Circular Engineering, we have a diverse team that is aiming to solve coastal water eutrophication using synthetic biology.

- What is our project?

Our team is dedicated to addressing coastal eutrophication through a sustainable and circular approach. We propose capturing and transforming nitrates from coastal waters using a genetically modified strain of Vibrio natriegens that can be tactfully placed along coastal areas in connection to riverways, for direct uptake of excess nitrate at a major concentrated source and for prevention of further spread. Our method leverages nitrate assimilation in the form of ammonium, reducing the nutrient levels that cause harmful algal blooms and restoring ecosystem balance. The resulting ammonium will be converted into value-added products, through assimilation into amino acids, specifically single-cell proteins (SCPs) for agriculture. These SCPs can enhance livestock diets, reduce the need for additional fertilisers, and improve organic fertilisers' quality.

- Where will your donations go?

To implement our idea and carry out research, we need financial support; donations will be used to buy various lab equipment and materials such as our chassis organism, or to cover the cost of traveling to present our findings at the final conference in Paris! With your help, we believe that we can turn our idea into reality to solve the eutrophication problem in coastal waters!