Team:Alberta/MainSafety

(Difference between revisions)

Revision as of 21:41, 26 September 2013

Where to start?

These genes are used in synthetic biology as selection tools.
There are lower chances of gene uptake by wild bacteria compared to lab-strain bacteria which have perforated membranes.
In the case that wild bacteria did uptake the antibiotic resistance gene, that gene would eventually be lost in the population without exposure to the antibiotic, because it is then a disadvantage for the bacteria to carry the unused plasmids. (Evidence observed in past with the decline of specific antibiotic resistance after the human population limited that antibiotic).

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        </div>
        <div class="block">
-         <h3>Doesn’t <i>E. coli</i> cause food poisoning? If <i>E. coli</i> is so dangerous, why are they being used in labs?</h3>
+         <h3></h3>
          <ul>
-           <li>Normal <i>E. coli</i> colonize the lower intestine of humans, while <b>producing Vitamin K</b> and
-            <b>protecting infection</b> from other harmful bacteria.</li>
-          <li>Only some strains of <i>E. coli</i> cause food poisoning, but our group is using a <b>harmless,
-            nonpathogenic strain</b>. This train is engineered to contain mutations that would not allow the <i>E.
-            coli</i> to survive outside the lab without particular nutrients.</li>
-          <li><i>E. coli</i> provides a well-studied and well-known <b>model system</b> to test and troubleshoot new
-            trials on.</li>
          </ul>
-         <p>Reference: <a href="http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1728375/">
-          http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1728375/</a></p>
          <h3>What if plasmids containing <b>antibiotic resistance genes</b> were released into the environment despite
            precautions?</h3>