Ever watched those stains made of pan spits and imagined what it takes to clean them? Well, gallons of water and money running into crores is what it has been taking till now. But the students of Ramnarain Ruia College, Matunga, promise to make it cheaper.
The team comprising of eight girls have won a gold medal at the Genetically Engineered Machines (iGEM) 2018 held at MIT Boston, for their cost-effective and environment-friendly method of removing paan stains. From 300 teams that participated across the globe, the Indian girls won the prize for best integrated human practices.
The students interviewed various pan shops owners, discussing the content of the product that gives it colour.
They went on to further quizzing the station managers, government officials on how the process of the removal of stains take place. The team of 8 learnt the costs that go into the cleaning, the acids used and the composition of a typical paan.
After extensive researching, they discovered certain microbes and enzymes that can turn the red paan color into a harmless composition.
The enthusiast bunch also initiated an awareness campaign, carrying out anti-spitting drives. They are now eying for grants to further the project.
The international Genetically Engineered Machines research competition is an annual occurrence and is organized by MIT. The team from Ruia was apparently the only undergraduate team out of the 300 finalists. The team registered another prize to their name when they were awarded for the ‘Best Project Under Environment Track’.
Chief Minister, Devendra Fadnavis felicitated the winning students and faculty members.
The team includes, Aishwarya Rajurkar, Anjali Vaidya, Komal Parab, Maithili Savant, Mitali Patil, Nishtha Pange, Sanika Ambre, and Shrutika Savant.
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