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From 2013.igem.org

Introduction

In 1983 the World Health Organization (WHO) published the first edition of the laboratory biosafety manual. This manual was composed for countries over the world to accept and implement the concepts of biological safety. This gave countries a scaffold to develop their national regulations in handeling pathogenic microorganisms ^{[Laboratory biosafety manual, WHO]}.

The revised version of this manual in 2004, also addresses the current biosafety issues we are facing today, e.g. the use of genetic modified organisms (GMOs)^{[Laboratory biosafety manual, WHO]}. Also a more recent development is the upcoming field of synthetic biology, which brings along more biosafety and ethical issues (discussed below).

In here, we will address the biological safety issues directly on our project with detailed information described by various organisations such as the WHO and the Commission on Genetic Modification (COGEM).

Infective microorganisms are classified, for laboratory work, by four risk groups. In this iGEM project we are working with Escherichia coli and Bacillus subtilis. For E. coli it is known that it can cause irritation to skin, eyes, and respiratory tract, and could affect kidneys, however this is a low individual and community risk^{[www.absa.org/riskgroups/bacteriasearch.php?genus=&species=coli]}. B. subtilis is unlikey to cause any harm to individual and community, and is also Generally Recognized as Safe (GRAS) ^{[Singh, M et al. Microbial Cell Factories 2009, 8:38]}.
In this case, the only relevant risk group for our project is Risk Group 1 (no or low individual and community risk). Microorganisms classified in this group are unlikely to cause human or animal diseases are classified in this group. For Risk Group 1 a Basic Biosafety Level 1 (BSL1) laboratory is required.
For our project we work on a BSL1 lab and all persons that do laboratory related work have a Good Microbiological Techniques (GMT) certificate. With this certificate we are approved to work with Risk Group 2 organisms in a BSL2 laboratory according to the Royal Dutch Society of Microbiology.