Team:Washington/Project/Safety/Anthrax

No live or attenuated anthrax was used in any way.

We did not handle, culture, transport, or otherwise come into contact with Bacillus anthracis or derivatives created or purified from live Bacillus anthracis, nor do we plan to. Our Gram-positive treatment utilizes the protein CapD, which is natively produced by Anthrax to anchor a poly-γ-D-glutamate layer to its extracellular matrix. CapD is a gene that Bacillus anthracis uses to create its home, and unrelated to factors that Bacillus anthracis uses to kill hosts. We created our CapD plasmid through oligonucleotide synthesis, thus avoiding Bacillus anthracis. CapD is non-toxic and its catalytic properties, transpeptidation and hydrolysis of poly-γ-D-glutamate, are not dangerous to humans. CapD could not be mutated to create a protein that would be dangerous to humans. The amino acid sequence and structure of CapD is already in the public domain and its addition to the registry presents no danger to the public.