Break-
Throughs
Our AI technology has led us to amazing unexpected breakthroughs.
BioBot-
the ultimate solution to ocean pollution.
We have never been closer to a true solution that not only cleans ocean garbage, but replenishes micronutrients into the sea.
We are at the brink of exciting new technology that is allowing us to attack the ocean's pollution more efficiently than ever before!
sketch of AI technology detecting garbage patch & signaling to BioBot
We will use technology and artificial intelligence to create our BioBot SuperEnzyme that is powerful enough and fast enough to eat millions of pounds of plastic per month. This is needed to consume all the legacy plastic and all the new plastic that’s being produced daily. The new Interceptor can find the most polluted areas, process, sort, and convert millions of pounds of plastic, and share this information with scientists.
The BioBot Tracker App will allow scientists to see what’s happening in real-time in the Interceptor and with the SuperEnzymes.
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This technology does not exist yet because we are still learning how to combine these enzymes and have not come near increasing the speed we need to make this possible.
Multiple breakthroughs helped to bring this SuperEnzyme to creation today. One big breakthrough was the discovery of Aspergillus tubingensis which is a fungus that can consume plastic by breaking down the chemical bonds in the material. In lab experiments that were published in Environmental Pollution (via ScienceDirect), the fungus was isolated, identified, and found to be able to break down polyurethane (PU).
This showed the world what was possible. Then a bacteria was discovered that could also do this, and scientists were off and running to improve this.
A team of scientists at the University of Portsmouth and the National Renewable Energy Laboratory focused on a combination of two enzymes made from a bacterium that was discovered in Japan in 2016. The scientists found that this bacterium could break down PET. In 2018, the team had success breaking down plastic using one of the two enzymes. But when the second enzyme is added, students found, the process works six times as fast.
If the enzymes for BioBot were created we could test them by putting them into an empty cement truck to spin in a certain amount of plastic to test the speed at which the plastic is consumed and turned into carbohydrates. We could measure speed, volume, byproduct, and confirm it can consume all types of plastic. We could also test it in various temperatures to see if that changes the speed which would help us understand what areas in the world would do better with it. We can also understand how to keep the enzymes working around the clock by testing the right speed to spin them in our device.
Next, we would test the byproduct to see if it’s fish-safe carbohydrates. The enzymes will be designed to create a byproduct that can support the same ocean wildlife that was harmed by plastics.
The byproduct of the carbon plastic will be carbohydrates - CHO2 - fish food to help the oceanic systems from the bottom of the food chain up.
Gene splicing and Genetic modification already exist. The modification of enzymes only exists to a certain degree. As of now, no super enzyme has been created that can eat plastic at the rate we need for impact. However, recent breakthroughs like the one by The Ocean Cleanup Project for the Great Pacific Garbage Patch have shown that through collaboration, big ocean cleanup projects are possible and can make a big difference.
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The BioBot will not only allow the Interceptor to find the most polluted places, to sort it’s plastic and trash better, and to increase the use of the BioBot Super Enzyme, but the data gathered will help our group calculate the total millions of pounds of plastic collected. This will help us raise more awareness and funding to expand our project. The Interceptor will need new technologies including solar panels, self-recharging batteries to keep it running, drone technology to predict weather issues or roadblocks.
The enzyme needs to have a suitable chamber that the enzyme cannot break out of. It also needs to have a system that makes sure that the trash can get into the chamber safely without the enzyme escaping. Our BioBot will have the capability to eat or consume trash at a faster rate than it is produced! Our chamber will work like a fidget spinner, it will move and spin so fast that it will allow our BioBot SuperEnzyme to use constant agitating motion to consume the trash 100 times faster and once the process is done, the byproduct will be pushed into the river to feed the ecosystems.
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The world needs smarter enzyme technology so the enzyme can break down the plastic at a very rapid pace and a much higher volume, or it isn’t useful for this endeavor. It would be too expensive and too slow to use worldwide. Another important feature of enzymes is that after they complete their action, they are done, they aren’t like a virus that will keep changing, and spreading. Safety is important.
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