At CSIRO, Australia's national science agency, we solve the greatest challenges through innovative science and technology. Our value to the Australian economy is massive. Our proud legacy invented fast Wi-Fi, Aerogard and polymer banknotes. Today we’re helping to find the first gravitational waves in space, growing gluten-free grains, 3D-printing body parts and pioneering new renewable energy sources, just to name a few. With more than 1800 patents, we are Australia’s largest patent holder. This ever-increasing wealth of intellectual property is a vast source of commercial opportunity and has already resulted in more than 150 spin-off companies, with many more to come.

Project: Engineering Nitrogen Fixation in Plants

Summary:

Industrial nitrogen fixation is the largest contributor to the world’s population expansion over the past century. It is remarkable that this chemical process requiring high temperature (>400°C) and pressure (150 atm) can be accomplished at room temperature by the bacterial enzyme nitrogenase. Harnessing this enzyme for ammonia production in plants has been a longstanding goal of biotechnology. More recently, increasing environmental pollution associated with fertilizer production and usage, as well as food security concerns, have lent urgency to this aspiration.

In this project you will work on assembling components of the nitrogenase enzyme complex in plants. This will involve bioinformatic research and lab based molecular biology work.

Note from Science Internships Office:

This project has been approved for credit. Please note that ANU does not have a formal agreement with CSIRO, and the intern must abide by CSIRO’s terms and conditions.

Download:

Engineering Nitrogen Fixation in Plants