Team:CityColSanFrancisco

We at City College of San Francisco, the world's first Junior College iGEM team, have begun constructing a bacterial powered battery. The design has been generated with sustainability in mind, and aims to create an alternative to traditional fossil fuel technologies.
The battery owes its capabilities to two strains of bacteria: the heterotroph Rhodoferax ferrireducens, and the photoautotroph Rhodopseudomonas palustris. Each strain will occupy its own concentration cell and after being cultured anaerobically, will either oxidize (in the case of R. palustris) ferrous iron or reduce (in the case of R. ferrireducens) ferric iron. The resulting current will be collected and used to demonstrate the functionality of the battery.
The reduction and oxidation reaction will be self-substaining. This process is further aided by the genetic modification of R. palustris. As a photosynthetic prokaryote, R. palustris generates glucose readily. We intend to share this glucose with R. ferrireducens by inserting a passive glucose transporter into the cells of R. palustris.

Advisors:

• Dirk VandePol
• Edith Kaeuper

Undergrads:

• Angela Brock
• Nick Candau
• Bowen Hunter
• Dan Ingwersen
• Gregory Sean Kielian
• Bertram Lee
• Colby Sandate
• Leeza Sergeeva