The Challenge of Perchlorates
Perchlorates are toxic compounds formed with a chlorine atom and four oxygens. In addition to harming human thyroid health, perchlorates are also harmful to ecosystem health by disrupting nutrient uptake in plants.
In particular, there are high concentrations of perchlorates on Mars, which have created a major barrier to the possibility of human habitation due to the fact that it pollutes water sources and can prevents agriculture.
The key to addressing issues with perchlorate contamination on Earth and Mars involves a reduction of perchlorate, turning it into a harmless chloride ion, and oxygen.
Our Solution
Our research project wanted to focus on exploring the perchlorate-reducing system in naturally occurring perchlorate reducing bacteria (PRB) and optimizing it for more efficient perchlorate reduction.
To achieve this, we conducted extensive background research to have an in-depth understanding of the enzymes involved in the process, and chose to focus on chlorite dismutase, the rate limiting step in the reaction (the enzyme that essentially controls the efficiency).
We conducted computational analysis using Alphafold 3 and Dynamut softwares to explore how mutations to different amino acids in the enzyme influence its efficiency.
We also designed a plasmid with the perchlorate reducing system in it to be transformed into a bacterium to allow it to reduce perchlorate.
Why is this important?
Optimizing chlorite dismutase in the perchlorate reduction system enables more effective reduction of perchlorates, which could be revolutionary in bioremediating areas of Earth that are polluted with perchlorates from explosives and fireworks, and prepping Mars for future human colonies.
On Mars, being able to reduce the perchlorates would not only generate oxygen for the atmosphere, but would purify water sources and the Martian regolith for agriculture. This addresses fundamental challenges that have been obstacles to establishing life on Mars, bringing us closer to human colonies on Mars.
Read our "Learn" Article
This page gives an overview of perchlorates, however, the foundation to every research project is a deep understanding of the topic. Learn more about this topic by reading our article about perchlorates, their history, their relevance for space exploration, and the methods employed and proposed to tackle them!
