biotech solutions project
Our biotech problem to solve was that of ocean acidification. We first researched it's effects on the world's oceans and then possible ways we could slow down and possibly reverse this process. Ocean acidification occurs when carbon dioxide is absorbed by the oceans. This is an ever increasing problem since marine life is such a vital part of our planet's ecosystem. Phytoplankton provide Earth with 50% of it's oxygen. However, with ocean acidification, their skeletons are being eroded and now roughly 40% of the plankton population is now missing.
Previous Attempted Solutions
Many states on the west coast have begun to take a bit notice in ocean acidification. They are attempting to lessen carbon emissions into our atmosphere. They have created law and such to help with this. Examples could be spare the air days, and limitations on how much carbon factories can spit into the atmosphere. The problem is there is only so much you can do with that. This in turn can help but not as much as we would like. The problem is that the emissions are already in the ocean the next step would be to get the acidifications levels down in the ocean.
Current Limitation/Present Need
For our project we are planning on trying to genetically modify the plankton. Some of the questions we have about this are what type of plankton will best do the job at providing oxygen. Also, how much they can do without the carbon effecting their bodies. We also want to know where they will be most effective in the oceans.
We first have to find out what they are doing now so that we can compare our results to see if they are effective. Another big obstacle is know what number of plankton it will take to make a change and how they will all be kept in a group.
Our Proposal Solution
Our Solution that our group speculated with hours of redesign and careful thinking a solution emerged, that solution is to introduce a Portuguese man o war type with phytoplankton organisms instead of the previous organisms. This could be a solution to ocean acidification by allowing a bigger mass of phytoplankton that produces extreme amounts of oxygen.
However If this solution may not contribute to the deacidification of the ocean perhaps another solution is needed. Selective breeding has mostly come to domestic animals, however selectively breeding phytoplankton to produce three times the amount of oxygen the plankton has produced in the past would definitely solve our problem.
Citations.
http://www.pmel.noaa.gov/co2/story/Ocean+Acidification
http://ocean.si.edu/ocean-acidification
http://www.oceanconservancy.org/our-work/ocean-acidification/?referrer=https://www.google.com/
https://www.whoi.edu/page.do?pid=83380&tid=3622&cid=131410
http://www.annualreviews.org/eprint/QwPqRGcRzQM5ffhPjAdT/full/10.1146/annurev.marine.010908.163834?ref=driverlayer.com&
Mentor Email: [email protected]
Manzello researches the effects of ocean acidification on coral reefs as well as the effects of climate change on the ocean. We currently do not have feedback from Manzello.
Reflection: Our group worked well in brainstorming solutions for our problem, we also quickly figured out what we needed to know from our efficacy tests as seen above. We could have done a better job in time management, as we were quite rushed towards the end of the project. We should have done a more thorough job in our research as well, we had to do some research during our efficacy tests.