User:Sdunyak/sandbox

Article Evaluation


 * evaluating an article titled "Metabolic Engineering", a majority of the topics discussed during lectures have been focused on the idea of maximizing product yield and the topic of metabolic engineering has been one of the main focuses.


 * The articles introduction was very precise, leaving the reader with no questions about the overall theme of the wiki page. There was no distracting information added.


 * The information seems to be very unbias and objective


 * Much of the information covered seems to be represented a fair amount, but there are certain topics that seem to go very in-depth and may be considered unnecessary. All of the references seem to be referenced properly, and are from reputable, trusted sources which means the in-depth detail that is covered in this article is most likely trustworthy, but potentially unnecessary.


 * The article has been rated as a C-class project, in the mid-importance category.


 * A decent amount of the article was revised due to bias entries and in-concise observations, as shown on the talk section. Many of these changes have been made because they are not present on the primary wiki article page.


 * The biggest difference in this article from class lecture discussion is the amount of in-depth detail that the author talked about.

Week 5:

Added to Anaerobic section of bioremediation wiki article.

Week 6:

Topic of choosing: Bioaugmentation

The introduction for the Bioaugmentation wikipedia article seems to be quite weak. The introduction is broad which is good, but I believe it could be written differently in such a way that the reader is left with a more detailed explanation of bioaugmentation and its applications.

Week 7: Incase you didnt get my email, here are the 2 references I will be using for my introductory paragraph to Bioaugmentation:

Reference 1: Is bioaugmentation a feasible strategy for pollutant removal and site remediation? by Said El Fantroussi

Reference 2:edit** I will be using a different, more updated, reference for my 2nd reference: Plasmid-Mediated Bioaugmentation for the Bioremediation of Contaminated Soils by Carlos Garbisu

Reference Notes for Bioaugmentation Introduction

Bioagumentation is the addition of a specific microorganism, or community of microorganisms, to enhance the biodegradation of contaminants from anthropogenic activities such as combustion of fossil fuels, mining, agricultural practices, improper waste management, urbanization, etc. Typical bioaugmentation strategies utilize a consortium of microorganisms with diverse metabolic capacities to improve biodegradability of toxic intermediates. Bioaugmentation has been widely used in the agricultural and wastewater treatment industry, but is still in an experimental phase to further its applicability of soil quality preservation in unfavorable in situ conditions. Successful application of microorganisms can be due to environmental factors such as the chemical nature and concentration of the pollutant of interest, limited dispersal in the soil matrix, or stressors such as predation, and competition for nutrients with autochthonous microbial populations.

Bioaugmentation serves as an attractive approach to bioremediation due to its compatibility with biogeochemical cycles, allowing for an environmentally friendly solution to pollution cleanup. To ensure compatibility of the microorganisms being considered for the bioaugmentation strategy, proper assessment of the contaminated site is needed to determine the ecological background of the biotope as well as metabolic functionality of naturally present microorganisms capable of degrading the pollutant. If microorganisms with the necessary catabolic genes are present, biostimulation serves as an alternate approach to bioremediation. A multitude of factors must be considered when deciding if bioaugmentation is a viable approach for the bioremediation of a specific site. Microorganisms are only effective on a limited range of contaminants, and contaminant concentrations. Additionally, the time required for the microbes to successfully biodegrade these contaminants might take too long compared to traditional physicochemical approaches such as excavation and disposal in landfills, and thermal desorption.

Bioaugmentation can be split up into two categories: cell bioaugmentation and genetic bioaugmentation. Cell bioaugmentation utilizes the implementation of microorganisms capable of degrading the target contaminant, and relies on the survival and growth of the bacterial strains being used. Genetic bioaugmentation utilizes the introduction of catabolic genes to native microorganisms in the soil, located on mobile genetic elements (MGEs).