As a result, we had to streak and restreak several times.

This graph shows that our bacteria really do have a genetic pathway to biodegrade phthalates.

They can be absorbed by skin contact, ingested, and inhaled.

This means that our bacteria were actually living off of phthalates.

As a result, they easily escape into our environment.

So we figured, if there are places along our Fraser River that are contaminated with phthalates, and if there are bacteria that are able to live in these areas, then perhaps, perhaps these bacteria could have evolved to break down phthalates.

The first step in our project was to collect soil samples from three different sites along the Fraser River.

Phthalates.

This implied that, if anything grew in our cultures, then they must be able to live off of phthalates.

Not only do phthalates pollute our environment, but they also pollute our bodies.

I know some of you in the crowd are thinking, well, carbon dioxide is horrible, it's a greenhouse gas.

We aimed to find bacteria from our local Fraser River that can degrade a harmful plasticizer called phthalates.

To make the matter worse, phthalates are found in products to which we have a high exposure, such as babies' toys, beverage containers, cosmetics, and even food wraps.

We read that each year, the Vancouver municipal government monitors phthalate concentration levels in rivers to assess their safety.

Out of thousands of bacteria, we wanted to find ones that could break down phthalates, so we enriched our cultures with phthalates as the only carbon source.

We hope that in the near future, we'll be able to create model organisms that can break down not only phthalates but a wide variety of different contaminants.

So Miranda and I shared this research at the Sanofi BioGENEius Challenge competition and were recognized with the greatest commercialization potential.

Estelle...

Estelle?

But for now,

Golly, Ester!

The Environmental Protection Agency even classified this group as a top priority pollutant because it's been shown to cause cancer and birth defects by acting as a hormone disruptor.

Fever again?

Why not borrow these items?

Be a good wife... ...and be good to your husband.

On the house.

To do this, we extracted enzymes from our bacteria and reacted with an intermediate of phthalic acid.

It's free of charge.

It's for free.

It's free.

This is free.

That's free.

Free Admission.

Above all , share this movie online

Did you get the free phone?

And then we give it a second gene to grow an inorganic material that can be used to split water into oxygen and hydrogen, that can be used for clean fuels.

Good night, Ester.

We were happy to see that, although our three strains had been previously identified bacteria, two of them were not previously associated with phthalate degradation, so this was actually a novel discovery.

Although we're not the first ones to find bacteria that can break down phthalates, we were the first ones to look into our local river and find a possible solution to a local problem.

Oh, but it doesn't matter.

SEMlNARS

I'm sure she needs it badly.

Breakfast, lunch and dinner.

I'm low on food.

The acidity neutralizes the tracking function.