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Decay of plastic in space by the Ideonella Sakaiensis Bacteria - Winner of the finals in the Spacelab 2021 Contest – Shimon Ben Zvi High school, Givatayim
Shimon Ben Zvi High School Givatayim, as part of the Ramon Foundation’s Spacelab program with Dr. Pirchi Waxman's Lab, Bar-Ilan University
The purpose of our experiment was to examine the effect of microgravity on the rate of decay of plastic by the Ideonella Sakaiensis bacteria.
It has recently been discovered that there are certain bacteria which, under conditions of microgravity, undergo mutations which provide them with highly-developed capabilities. These bacteria become stronger, larger and their propagation rate increases in comparison with other bacteria. The bacteria we are studying, Ideonella Sakaiensis, undergoes this process. Our hypothesis was that the Ideonella Sakaiensis would undergo the same transformation in space and become able to biodegrade more plastic than before.
Contact us for further questions about the experiment -