Team:METUHS-Ankara/project.html

Carbon monoxide (CO) is a colorless and odorless gas which can be very poisonous and dangerous. Since it is produced from commonly used household devices and industry, in the case of any leakage it can cause severe poisonings and deaths. Many people die in Turkey because of mishandled ascot and blast heaters. According to statistics 10,154 people, meaning 14 out of every 100,000 people, were intoxicated.

The aim of our project is to prevent these cases. In order to achieve this, we plan to develop a biological device which will include a detection and a conversion system. Firstly, our detection mechanism is based on light dependent sensors. These sensors gather data from the bacteria, in turn triggering an alarm system. Secondly, in the event of CO presence, our conversion system will be activated in order to convert carbon monoxide into carbon dioxide (CO2). To accomplish this transformation, we are using an enzyme called Carbon Monoxide Dehydrogenase (CODH). Finally, as a safety measure we will include a kill switch mechanism that aims to inactivate the system.