Belfu Berkol (15), a student at Istanbul Saint Joseph High School, took her first step into the world of science with the production of bioplastics from pumpkin shells, which can be used as a raw material for medicine capsules. Now, the Istanbul Saint Joseph High School IGEM (International Genetically Engineered Machine) team, in which Belfu is also a member, received a silver medal, and Berfu Berkol became the first Turkish member of WISTEM, which enables women to work more actively in the scientific world.
About 10 percent of a pumpkin consists of the peel. According to the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO) 2016 data, approximately 20 million tons of pumpkin are produced annually in the world and 2 million tons of shell waste is generated. 15-year-old high school student Belfu Berkol produced bio-plastic from pumpkin shells that can be used as a raw material for drug capsules. Thus, it both recycled the waste and made the drug capsule cheaper.
The inspiration for the project gave 1 kilo of shell
Belfu, who saw that 10 percent of a pumpkin consists of the shell and that at least 10 kilogram of shell comes out of an average of 1 kilograms of pumpkin, thought about how the shell could be used instead of throwing it away. Belfu first produced a bioplastic raw material from the pumpkin shell, which contains sufficient amount of lignin, and then a medicine capsule from this raw material. With the raw material obtained from the pumpkin shell, 16.5 times more capsules can be produced from the same amount of chemical raw materials. With this method, drug capsules cost about 4.5 times less.
What is IGEM?
IGEM, an academic competition aimed at raising awareness of natural biology and at the same time developing communication and cooperation between groups, was established in 2004 to encourage students to bring their project ideas to life.
More than 300 projects from many countries of the world participate every year. A platform called Women in STEM, which aims to increase women's scientific studies in the field of biology as of 2020, was included in the scope of the competition.
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