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Team:Peking/Lab
From 2013.igem.org
SAFETY
ARE WE BIOSAFE ENOUGH?
Question 1:Experimental Safety
Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of:
researcher safety, public safety, or environmental safety?
The only organisms we worked with are Escherichia coli K 12 and Pseudomonas Putida MT 2, both of which are considered lab-safe. The main dangerous elements in this project are the target aromatic chemicals. The risks these aromatic compounds pose are precisely the reason that we are working with them. We took careful steps to protect ourselves while working with them in the lab. (picture of Xue Haoran)Members who were working directly with these compounds wore particulate respirators for protection against inhalation. In addition to masks, lab members also wore lab coats and gloves to protect against absorption into the skin. After use, these compounds were disposed of by sending them off to the College of Chemistry for appropriate handling. Containment is not a problem. If our E. coli or parts leaked into the environment, we do not foresee bacteria that fluoresce upon exposure to toxic aromatic compounds being an environmental or health hazard. Our parts would be very difficult to maliciously misuse, unless the intent is to maliciously detect compounds.
