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NitroBLAST
Laying the foundation for nitrogen fixation
Nitrogen
Nitrogen gas, comprising 78% of Earth's atmosphere, is the most abundant chemical in the air.


Its triple bond is one of the strongest, making N₂ highly inert.


This makes it challenging for organisms as well as industries to convert it into useful compounds.
The Haber-Bosch process
Nitrogen-containing compounds (ammonia and nitrates) can act as food for plants to meet their nitrogen requirements.


In nature, the amound of nitrogen-containing compounds (plant food) is limited, requiring fertiliser.


The Haber-Bosch process revolutionized agriculture by industrializing nitrogen fixation, greatly boosting agricultural productivity.


However, each year 200 million tonnes of reactive nitrogen is lost to the environment.
The Nitrogen Crisis
Over-fertilization
The Netherlands grapples with a crippling nitrogen crisis with over 80% of ammonia emissions coming from over-fertilization.
Eutrophication
Excessive ammonia enrichment promotes uncontrolled algal blooms in water bodies causing eutrophication, which leads to loss of biodiversity.
What if plants could fix their own nitrogen?
We could reduce up to 2% of global CO2 emissions from synthetic fertilizer production.
We could reduce nitrogen emissions, prevent eutrophication, and protect biodiversity while sustaining agricultural productivity.
iGEM TU Delft
introduces
Laying the foundation for nitrogen fixation.
Braarudosphaera bigelowii
Earlier this year, a new organelle, the nitroplast was discovered in the marine alga Braarudosphaera bigelowii.
UCYN-A
This organelle was originally a bacterium named UCYN-A, and eventually became an organelle in B. bigelowii through endosymbiosis.
Nitrogen fixation
What makes it the first of its kind, is its ability to fixate atmospheric nitrogen!
Nitrogen-fixing eukaryotes
We aim to transplant nitroplasts from B. bigelowii into other cells to create nitrogen-fixing eukaryotes.
The roadmap to nitrogen-fixing eukaryotes
Characterize the UCYN-A transport system in the dry lab
Express essential proteins in the host
Regulate cell division
Insertion into eukaryotic cells
Investigate the global impact
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