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Team:Hong Kong CUHK/safety
From 2013.igem.org
Safety
1. Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of:
- researcher safety
- public safety
- environmental safety
Our project ideas will not raise any safety issues. Our project only makes use of non-virulent E. coli (DH5α and BL21). Public health risk will not occur due to the non-pathogenic property of the bacteria used. Even though our project involves Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) and Quinone, but they are both used in a very low concentration. With low concentration, their toxicity and carcinogenicity have been greatly reduced and considered as safe for individuals and the environment.
In the beginning of iGEM, each of our member has received a Biological Safety Training and General & Chemical Safety Training. Which include safety related concepts, basic emergency procedures and how to handle microorganisms. We all have obtained a certificate to operate in a Biosafety Level 1 laboratory. In this way we have ensured the researcher safety throughout our project process.
Before disposal, all bacteria stocks and laboratory wastes are autoclaved. If there is accidental release, there is no health risk will be caused due to the non-virulent and non-pathogenic properties of bacteria used.
2. Do any of the new BioBrick parts (or devices) that you made this year raise safety issues?
According to WHO an organism is categorized as Risk Group 2 (moderate individual risk, low community risk) if it is a pathogen that can cause human or animal disease but is unlikely to be a serious hazard to laboratory workers, the community, livestock or the environment. Laboratory exposures may cause serious infection, but effective treatment and preventive measures are available and the risk of spread of infection is limited.
Even though some of our inserts come from organisms under the Risk Group 2. All of these inserts are synthesized and none of them comprises the characteristics that make them categorized in the Risk Group 2 organisms. The inserts are used for repressor, scaffolding protein and enzyme expression, which will not cause any harm to individuals and the environment.
3. Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution?
Yes, there is University Safety Office of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. One representative officer has visited our lab and performed a risk assessment. In overall, he is satisfied with our working conditions. We have discussed our project details with them. One important reminder that the officer gave is to use fume cupboard when diluting Benzo[a]pyrene (B[a]P) to lower concentration. As high concentration is B[a]P is considered as hazardous to the researcher.
The officer categorizes our project as BioSafety Level 1 and it is a low risk project.
4. Do you have any other ideas how to deal with safety issues that could be useful for future iGEM competitions? How could parts, devices and systems be made even safer through biosafety engineering?
2012 CUHK iGEM Team’s new safety approach is good to be incorporated to BioBrick Design. This will definitely eliminate safety issues if there is accidental release of bacteria with transformed plasmid to the environment. Their new safety approach is a controlled suicide system, which target the antibiotic resistance gene or the standard site of the BioBrick such as prefix and suffix.
