Hi! I am Alexandra form Hungary. I’m studying in a special biology class. I am interested in biology, especially in genetics and molecular biology. Beside biology, environmental protection is also very important for me. That’s why, I am really happy to have the opportunity to make a project which is about the protection of natural and artificial lakes. I think this competition is a good opportunity to hear and get new ideas and meet new students!
My project
Tell us what the water concern in your country is!Hungary is rich in surface water groundwater and thermal sources They are essential for the wildlife tourism fishery drinking water Unfortunately we use these values inappropriately For instance for the agricultural production we use fertilisers they get into the water base and they cause damages and algal bloom for lakes
This is what I think is one of the solutions for a sustainable future:I think the most important thing is that we should educate people about the consequences of water pollution. Moreover, we should try to use new methods that are able to detect the problem as soon as it's possible, so we could have better chance to minimalize or even prevent the damages.
Detecting the Toxin Production of the Microcystis species in Hungarian Lakes
Algal bloom causes several damages for lakes all around the word. The goal of this project was to develop an efficient way to follow the toxin production during algal blooming at an early stage. The goal of the study was to create a biosensor which can detect the starting point of microcystin toxin production of blue-green algae namely the toxic Microcystis sp. population. Microcystin is synthesized non-ribosomally by 10 genes. Four BioBricks were designed with the promoter of the genes, however instead of the genes green fluorescent protein (GFP) was used to predict the transcription of the genes responsible for microcystin synthesis. The students measured the fluorescence density emitted by the GFP when the toxin production had started.
