Seminar by the Warwick iGEM team

: “InFATuation: a Warwick iGEM solution to fatbergs”

iGEM gives students the opportunity to push the boundaries of synthetic biology by tackling everyday issues facing the world. Multidisciplinary teams of students work together to design, build, test, and measure a system of their own design using interchangeable biological parts and standard molecular biology techniques.

The Warwick iGEM team has decided to focus on targeting fatbergs - large congealed masses made up of non-biodegradable material like wet wipes, as well as grease/cooking oils. The team aim to identify the bacterial species colonizing fatbergs, sequence their genomes and extract their DNA following the identification of a series of lipase genes to degrade the lipids found within these masses. They then hope to clone these genes into a non-pathogenic bacterium like E.coli, which could then be used to biologically degrade fatbergs.