User:John M.L. Craven/Notebook/20.109 Mod 3, W/F Green Presentation

Optimization of Extracellular Electron Transfer in Microbial Fuel Cells Using Geobacter sulfurreducens

Big Picture

With increasing concerns in society about the depletion of fossil fuels and the harmful effects of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere, there is a great need for sources of energy from biological, renewable matter that will produce electricity and not be harmful to the environment. Microbial fuel cells, which use microorganisms to convert organic matter into fuel, may be a solution to this need if the process can be optimized for most applications of the technology. The objective of our project is to optimize the extracellular electron transfer capabilities of Geobacter sulfurreducens in microbial fuel cells. This will result in a more efficient process that can produce energy on a scale more competitive with current technologies. Specifically, we will create a genome scale metabolic network model of G. sulfurreducens in silico, study the intracellular dynamics of the species, determine the gene deletions that optimize extracellular electron transfer, measure the effects of these deletions on extracellular electron transfer, and examine genome wide effects of these deletions in vitro. We will do this using in silico metabolic flux analysis on a genome scale and with DNA microarray technology.

Goals

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