Background:

According the WHO, 844 million people currently suffer from a lack of clean water. The lack of clean water results in the spread of horrific water-borne diseases and rampant poverty. Current methods of water purification are either too expensive, inaccessible, or unsustainable. Our lab has worked on a solution to the clean water crisis by exploiting the properties of a cationic protein contained in the tropical Moringa seed.

Moringa seeds have long been used to purify water due to their ability to flocculate particulate matter by crushing the seed and adding it to foul water. However, this method is only 90-99% effective and has the potential for bacterial regrowth. In previous work, the Moringa seed has been shown to contain a cationic, antimicrobial protein that kills bacteria by disrupting the cell membranes. Our lab created functionalized sand by adsorbing this protein to sand, then used this sand in a filter to purify model wastewater. First, we tested 1 micron sPSL particles, which are the hardest particles to remove according to most clean bed filtration models. Our filter showed around 4 log, or 99.99% removal of such particles. Then, we tested water spiked with E. Coli, and our filter showed greater than 8 log, or 99,999999% removal of E. Coli.

Spring 2018

Moringa group in Florida. L to R: Charan, Me, Henry

March 2018: I traveled with the group to Fort Myers, Florida, where we worked with ECHO Global Farm, a nonprofit world hunger organization, to build a functional scaled up prototype of a Moringa filter. Using locally available sand, seed, and columns, we built 4 filters and demonstrated that the Moringa filter filtered dirty pond water to the best visual clarity while also removing all measurable Coliform bacteria. As our first field test, we were excited that our filter was able to cross the bridge from a controlled lab environment to a real life situation. Additionally, it was great opportunity to escape the lab and bond with the group.

Me at the United Nations Headquarters, where I presented my work at the Students Seeking Solutions for Sustainable Development Goals conference.

April 2018: I traveled to the United Nations Headquarters in New York City, where I presented along with my group at the “Students Seeking Solutions” Sustainable Development Goal #6 Conference. We were excited to share our research with a fresh audience with various perspectives on solutions to the clean water crisis. Of course, another great opportunity to bond and get closer to the group.

Moringa group Spring 2018. Back: Charan, Roman, Me, Ariel, Henry. Front: Boya, Emma, Taylor.

Summer 2018:

During the summer of 2018, I participated in a 10-week “Integration of Biology and Materials” research fellowship. I led the project dedicated towards quantifying virus removal in Moringa coated sand filters. Noroviruses, rotaviruses, Hepatitis A, and even the flu can be transmitted in dirty water, and these virus particles are especially hard to remove from water because they are so much smaller than bacteria. I grew and cultivated the MS2 bacteriophage virus, then conducted column tests to investigate the ability of our columns to filter viruses.

Our results showed ~7-log (99.99999%) removal of MS2, well above the EPA standard of 4-log virus inactivation/removal. In addition to the removal results, inconsistencies in the columns led us to some important research questions, namely whether or not column packing, quantity of protein coated, and types of seed used impact virus removal. These questions led us to use new techniques including tracer tests, SDS-PAGE protein gels, fluorometric protein asssays, and Bradford assays to answer these questions. The work in the summer will be published in Environmental Science and Technology early in the Fall.

Me presenting my summer work at the 2018 REU Symposium at Penn State

The summer was not without fun! The Moringa team took a 4th of July trip to Philadelphia and New York while staying at my house in Lansdale.

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Check out the poster I presented at the final REU symposium, it summarizes the work I did in the summer.

Fall 2018/Spring 2019

During the school year, the group looked to address some unanswered questions with the summer work. Through protein analysis and molecular docking simulations, we proposed a mechanism for virus removal, which we confirmed with additional column experiments. The work was compiled into a paper, which we are currently preparing to publish.

AICHE Annual Meeting, Pittsburgh PA, October 2018

October 2018: I traveled with my lab to present my summer research at the 2018 AICHE Annual Meeting. I had a great experience attending workshops and presentations over 3 days while getting the opportunity to share Moringa research with a more extensive audience.

Large gravity driven filters built by our collaborators at ECHO.

March 2019: I traveled back to ECHO to continue our collaboration with scaling up these sand filters. During the fall, ECHO built large, gravity driven Moringa coated sand filters that were designed to run at extremely high flow rates and potentially provide clean water for a household. The size and flow rates of these filters really pushed the limits of anything we had previously tried in the lab. They ran these filters at high flow rates over 2 months and achieved moderate results. These filters were a significant step forward in the potential future implementation, but clearly more work needs to be done to optimize their performance.

April 2019: I presented my research at the 2019 AICHE Mid-Atlantic Student Regional Conference, hosted by Penn State. Participating in the paper competition, I was required to present a 10 minute PowerPoint presentation on my work. I was fortunate enough to win 1st place, giving me the opportunity to present at the AICHE Annual Meeting in Orlando, Florida in the Fall. Of course, much of the credit goes to my labmates, but it was great to see the hard work pay off.

Moringa Lab poses in front of the new Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building. L to R: Me, Roman, Camila, Dr. Velegol, Sarine, Paula, Henry, Charan

May 2019: A sad time of the year, as we said goodbye to two longtime members of the lab, tireless grad student Charan, who is moving to UT Austin, and always enthusiastic graduating senior Henry. Fortunately, the lab welcomed three new undergrads this semester, Camila, Abigail, and Sarine, to fill their places. Additionally, the lab will be moving into the brand new Chemical and Biomedical Engineering Building over the summer, which will only facilitate our research. I will be spending the summer in Oregon on an internship, but I am excited to return to the group in the Fall, see what the group accomplished over the summer, and continue my work!

Fall 2019

October 2019: After many revisions and additional experiments, our virus removal manuscript was FINALLY accepted by Environmental Science & Technology. Our hard work paid off! Check it out!