Mikkel Christensen
Virgečilgehus
We investigate bacteria isolated from the arctic marine environment that produce Polyhydroxyalkanoates (PHA) as intracellular storage polymers. PHA is extracted from bacteria and used as a bioplastic due to attractive material properties including degradation in marine environments. It is currently produced at industrial scale although at very low quantities compared to recalcitrant oil-plastics that we all use in our everyday life. Discovery and optimization of PHA producing bacteria will hopefully lead to a future of sustainable bioplastic production.
Our work consist of a combination of
Microbiology (Fluorescence microscopy, 16s rDNA identification, growth optimization)
Analytical chemistry (Quantification of PHA production using FTIR and GC/MS)
Bioinformatics (Genome assembly and downstream analyses)
Genetic engineering (eg. CRISPR/CAS9; projected work)
Are you a student and interested in an informal talk about our work? Please contact us!
Read more:
https://framsenteret.no/forum/2019/confronting-one-of-our-greatest-challenges-plastic-waste-in-nature/ (Public outreach article)
MarVal project - "From unexploited marine biomass to high value products" (A UiT Interdisciplinary Research project)
https://site.uit.no/marval/
MarPlast project - "Marine microorganisms for bioplastics production" (Partners from Umeå University and University of Bucharest)
http://site.uit.no/marplast/
or say hello! on LinkedIn
https://www.linkedin.com/in/mikkel-christensen-b099a7a9/
The 50 latest publications is shown on this page. See all publications in Cristin here →
Undervisning
Lab supervision and report corrections in course:
Introduction to Chemistry and Chemical Biology (KJE-1001)