This project aims to design a living sea defense system (bio-concrete tetrapods) by incorporating organisms capable of carrying out plastics and biocementation and bioremediation. Plastics used will be obtained from plastic waste found in the sea.
Method:
Several organisms have been designed and engineered to achieve the goals of the project. The plastic degradation is achieved by introducing genes responsible for plastic degradation to its constituent monomers, (ethylene glycol and terephthalate).The biocementation is achieved by adding genes capable to undertake the hydrolysis of urea, inducing precipitation of the calcium carbonate and thus cementation. The organisms have a self-regulation ability to maintain a balanced environment and self-repair mechanisms induced by increased light in the tetrapod due to cracking. In addition, the tetrapod contains Bioluminescent organisms for natural illumination of the environment. In Ghana the coastal zone covers 6.5% of the 238,535km2 land area (Armah & Amlalo, 1998). Coastlines worldwide account for about 26% of all biological diversity, composed of, but not limited to, seabirds, clams, crabs, starfish, anemones, fish, kelp, and marine mammals among may others.
In Ghana the coastal area is also “home to more than a quarter of the country’s population and contributes as much as 80% of the country’s annual capture fish production” (NDF, Worldbank WACA report, 2013, p.1). However, coastal erosion and flooding resulting from the impacts of human activities, inappropriate systems put in place for managing coastal ecosystems, and climate change and sea-level rise remain major threats to coastal dwellers and their livelihoods. Severe erosion rates have been recorded for the eastern coast particularly following the construction of the Akosombo hydroelectric dam (Ly, 1980). Erosion has affected the social and economic life of local populations, threatened cultural heritage, and hindered coastal tourism in addition to the destruction of houses and other physical infrastructure. Some of the most affected communities are found in the Keta Municipality, which forms part of the eastern coast (about 149km) stretching from Aflao at the Ghana/Togo border in the east to the Laloi Lagoon in Prampram to the west. (NDF, Worldbank WACA report, 2013, p.1).
Ashesi’s Engineering Department Head and students in her bioengineering class sought out biological solutions to mitigate the coastal erosion problem to contribute to ensuring the conservation, restoration, and sustainable use of terrestrial habitation (SDG 15.1). The proof of concept is under discussion with Ghana’s Environmental Protection Agency. It is our hope that it will potentially impact terrestrial and climate-related policy. The goal of the project was to design a living sea defence system (bio-concrete tetrapods) by incorporating organisms capable of removing plastics along the coastline and converting to biocementation and bioremediation. It was to “take urgent and significant action to reduce the degradation of natural habitats and halt the loss of biodiversity.” (SDG 15.5)
