Team:Osaka/Safety

Although we did not encounter any issues with biosafety during the course of this project, a discussion of safety is mandated by the iGEM requirements so we included it here.

Q1. Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of researcher safety, public safety or environmental safety ?

No, our project ideas do not raise any safety issue in terms of researcher safety, public safety or environmental safety. We use E.coli(K12) strain DH5α, DH10b, DH1, and DNA used in our laboratory were all of safe genes, moreover, our experiment was controlled under P1 level room. They are safe for the researcher and the environment, and they do not have any hazard outside the lab.

Q2. Can your project auses risks to security through malicious misuse by individuals, groups, or countries?

No, within the compass of our imagination, our project ideas cannot be used for some malicious misuse.

Q3, If your project moved from a small-scale lab study to become widely used as a commercial/industrial product, what new risks might arise?

Our project idea contains drug resistance gene. So if our project ideas widely used in society, they can accelerate the evolution of the drug-resistant bacterium.

Q4, Does your project include any design features to address safety risks?

In our project, we use –ilvE E.coli strain which cannot produce isoleucine. In addition to that, we have construct apart that codes ilvE in biobrick format. They canbe used to construct an auxotrophic chassis system to prevent bio-hazard.

Q5, What safety training have you received?

Our faculty adviser Prof. Kakimoto gave us safety training. It was about how we safely conduct experiments in a lab, and how we treat and dispose genetically engineered orginisms to prevent bio-hazard.

Q6, Does your institution have an Institutional Biosafety Committee, or an equivalent group? If yes, have you discussed your project with them? Describe any concerns they raised with your project, and any changes you made to your project plan based on their review.

Yes, our university has a biosafety committee which requires students and faculty alike to take a biosafety course as well as submit an application before engaging in any research activity involving genetically-modified organisms. In general, as we stuck to the 'safe' organisms of E. coli , the committee did not show any objection to our project. Here is the link to biosafety guidelines of our institution. ( http://www.osaka-u.ac.jp/jp/about/kitei/reiki_honbun/u035RG00000478.html )