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CHEE 342: Environmental Biotechnology
Individual Research Topic
Report due date: Wednesday 20th Nov 2013 at 8:30 am
List of references and Table of Contents due: Tuesday 15 Oct 2013 at midnight
This project is worth 25% of your final mark. Your report must be a maximum of 16 pages of text
(min ~14 pages, see Guidelines for writing reports) on a topic in environmental biotechnology. A list
of topics is given below but you are free to select a topic not on this list with the prior approval of the
instructor. Approval may be obtained via email. You must research your topic to be sure that you can
find sufficient information and that the subject is of interest to you before you sign up for it. You must
signup by Tuesday 15th October 2013 at midnight and email a word document to the TA (Eric
Peterson - ecp.eric@gmail.com) with a list of references (in the right format) that you will use in
your paper and a Table of Content of your report (worth 5% of the report). Only 1 student per
project title. You can sign up on the Moodle course page (https://moodle.queensu.ca/201314/mod/choice/view.php?id=25551).
Present your material in a logical, concise manner (quality, not quantity is important). Consult the
section on "Guidelines for written report" for the format and on how the report will be graded. If you
need help, consult your TA or the reference librarian at Douglas Library for advice on where or how to
research for the background information. There will be a penalty of -20 marks per day for late
reports. This report must be your original work and “all forms of academic dishonesty such as
plagiarism, cheating, furnishing false information to the University, forgery, misuse of university
documents” is an offence (http://www.queensu.ca/secretariat/senate/policies/codecond.html) and any
form of academic dishonesty will result in a mark of zero.
List of possible topics
1) Developments in biotechnology to alleviate hunger in third world countries
2) Bacillus thuringiensis as a biopesticide
3) Nematodes as biopesticide
4) Prebiotic and probiotic foods
5) Animal biotechnology for pharmaceutical and industrial applications
6) Microbial production of antibiotics
7) Industrial application of microbial lipases
8) Enzymes in the food industry
9) Microbial fuel cells
10) The biorefinery concept
11) Microbial production of flavours and fragrances (ie vanillin, benzaldehyde, zingerone)
12) Industrial production of microbial lactic acid as a building block chemical
13) Industrial production of microbial succinic acid as a building block chemical
14) Industrial production of microbial 2,3-butanediol as a building block chemical
15) Microbial Industrial production of butanol as a biofuel
16) Biosensors and the environment
17) Thermophilic bacteria as a source of novel enzymes for industrial application
18) Magnetic bacteria and applications of biomagnetites in nanobiotechnology or medicine
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19) Enzymes in textile finishing processes
20) Plant biotechnology for air environmental monitoring and purification
21) Biotechnological reduction of carbon dioxide emissions and greenhouse gases
22) Control of industrial biofilms
23) Microorganisms as biofertilizers to replace chemical fertilizers
24) The importance of clean drinking water in third world countries
25) Sick building syndrome
26) Rapid detection of microbial contamination in drinking water or food eg molecular probes
27) Incorporation of living organisms in biomicroelectronic devices
28) Genetically modified organisms in the environment
29) The gene chip and its application in the environment
30) Microalgae for biodiesel production
31) Biodiesel from transesterification of oils
32) Pharmaceutical contamination of drinking water
33) Biogas production from agricultural and food wastes
34) Microbial degradation of plastics and polymers
35) Biological life support systems for space exploration
36) Aquaponics for food production
37) Advances in home wastewater treatment and alternatives to septic beds
38) Rumen ecology and improvements in productivity in the dairy sector
39) Ethanobotany and Bioprospecting of novel pharmaceuticals
40) Biological control in greenhouses and agriculture
41) Role of gut microorganisms in humans on health
Guidelines for written report
Format for written report
The report should be a maximum of 16 pages (min ~14 pages), not including title page, figures or
tables and the list of references. The report should be typed double-spaced on 8.5"x 11" paper with a
1" margin all around.
Title page
Information on this page should include:
Title of the report (eg "Biooxidation of refractory sulfide ores for gold recovery")
Date of submission
your name and student number and a signed statement that your report is independent and original
work.
Executive summary
This should be a maximum of a half page clearly summarizing the highlights of the report. Take the
time to write a well-constructed summary with a view to catching the readers' interest so that they will
want to read the whole report. However, it is important not to be misleading. Keep the technical
language in this section to a minimum.
Table of contents
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This should list each section and sub-section and the page number upon which it begins.
List of Figures and Tables
If figures and/or tables are included in the report, this list should follow the table of contents. The
number, caption and page number should be listed.
Main body
The report should include the following sections:
Introduction
This section should be concise. It should introduce the problem(s) or objective(s), the significance
(legal, health, regulatory considerations, etc) or why we should be interested in the topic.
Background or Literature Review
This should briefly describe the biotechnological solution(s) which may be used to deal with the
problem(s) or an in-depth understanding of the technology. Discuss factors which may affect the
process. State the advantages and disadvantages of the biotechnological solution and compared to
traditional non-biotechnological approaches.
Detailed description of pilot or commercial scale applications (where applicable)
Give details of at least one commercial application. Make use of diagrams or drawings.
Economics
Compare the cost of the biological solution to other processes when possible.
Conclusions
Be concise.
References
All publications, personal communications, unpublished documents, Tables, Figures, etc referred to in
the report must be properly cited in the list of references. Use a format such as that of the Canadian
Journal of Chemical Engineering or a similar journal. Only scholarly articles are allowed as
references. Note that web citations such as Wikipedia will not be acceptable. Scholarly journal
articles and reference books will be acceptable. A minimum of 8 or 9 are needed. For example:
Vandevivere PC, Bianchi R, Verstraete W (1998) Treatment and reuse of wastewater from the textile
wet-processing industry: review of emerging technologies. J. Chem. Technol. Biotechnol. 72: 289-302.
Assessment
Your written report will be assessed according to the following marking scheme: (total = 100%)
1. Organization, neatness of layout and figures, overall presentation
Max. mark
10
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2. Technical content (should include where applicable but is not limited to) 60
significance of problem
relevant background or literature review,
detailed description of pilot or commercial scale applications
awareness of limitations of these applications
cost comparison
3. Table of Contents and References
10
4. Good grammar, clear concise writing
20