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The AlgaGenix project, promoted by a team of students from the degrees in Biomedical Sciences, Biotechnology and Bioinformatics at the University of Barcelona, has won one of the gold medals at the iGEM international synthetic biology competition. In addition, it has been recognized as one of the best synthetic biology projects in bioremediation. The competition, better known as Grand Jamboree, is an initiative of the International Genetically Engineered Machine (iGEM) Foundation, an independent, non-profit entity dedicated to education, the advancement of synthetic biology and the promotion of an open and collaborative in this area of knowledge.
From November 2 to 5, the contest, which this year reaches its twentieth edition, brought together more than eight thousand participants and 400 teams of young researchers from all over the world in Paris. After twenty years of experience, 75,000 students from 66 countries have participated in this contest and 4,300 projects have been presented.
AlgaGenix is a bioremediation project that applies synthetic biology techniques to genetically improve a study model – the microalgae Chlamydomonas reinhardtii – so that it is capable of filtering water contaminated with nitrates and thus generating compounds of great added value such as fertilizers or phytostimulants.
The project was born to try to alleviate the alarming shortage of good quality water that exists in different parts of the world - Catalonia is no exception - due to climate change and intense human activity. With reservoirs at historic lows, the problem is becoming increasingly worse and complicated by the poor quality of the available water. Given this scenario, the accumulation of pollutants in reservoirs – such as nitrates derived from agriculture, industry or sewage – generates very high pressure on water resources and has a great impact on the environmental crisis in Catalonia.
“Our project has the ability to revolutionize a relatively unexplored field and join the efforts that are being made from all areas, to solve a problem that is not limited to a single region, but affects millions of people around the globe,” details the team, made up of students Arnau Vila, Jaume Ros, Santi Ramos, Sergi Fornós, Andrea Camí, Júlia Aguilar, Ares Font, Geovani Fuentes, Maria Roy, Oriol Capell and Pol López.
AlgaGenix is a project based on the genetic modification of microalgae to generate a strain with a greater capacity to absorb excess nitrates while increasing the production of cytokinins, a natural phytostimulant that acts as a fertilizer in the vast majority of crops. The objective is that, later, the extracts of these algae can be used as fertilizers. We are therefore working towards a circular economy and the use of resources.
In this successful initiative, the team has had a team of advisors made up of Gemma Marfany, professor of the Department of Genetics, Microbiology and Statistics and delegate of the rector for scientific dissemination and the experts Jae-Seong Yang, David Alzuria, Mortiz Aschern and Ángela Femat, from the Agrigenomics Research Center (CRAG). In addition, it has received external support from the company BonÀrea Agrupa, l'Artesà de Segre and institutional support from the vice-rectorates for Research, Students and Participation, Internationalization Policy and Entrepreneurship, Innovation and Transfer of the University of Barcelona
