Team:Cambridge/Safety

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Latest revision as of 13:23, 26 October 2010

Considerations: Safety

Researcher safety

As with any scientific project, ours will require precautions to ensure the safety of researchers. These include the use of gloves and labcoats to protect from chemicals which are irritant (including luciferin) and the use of masks when using powdered media. Materials safety datasheets and COSSH forms will be used to assess risk.

Public safety

There is very little risk to public safety from our project. We are using non-pathogenic lab strains of E. coli which have lost their ability to compete in the intestine. The recombinant DNA we are creating emits light, it is difficult to see how this could ever engender pathogenicity even after horizontal transfer to other organisms. Nevertheless our project must be properly contained. Control measures to ensure this include keeping the windows of the laboratory closed and autoclaving all waste.

Environmental safety

We are using lab strains of E. coli which do not thrive outside the lab, we are not conferring any additional fitness advantages on our bacteria apart from antibiotic resistance which is a common feature of lab work. Our project does not pose a risk to environmental safety. But containment remains essential

Do our BioBricks raise safety issues?

No, our parts do not pose any risk to public or environmental safety.

Biosafety at Cambridge

One of our advisors, Dr. Ajioka, is the biosafety officer for the Department of Pathology. We were able to discuss the safety of our work with him at every stage of the project. We also ensured we complied with the UK's biosafety regulations, taking advice from Dr. Ajioka.

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-{{:Team:Cambridge/Templates/headerbar|colour=#fb5c2b|title=Safety: Under construction}}
+{{:Team:Cambridge/Templates/headerbar|colour=#fb5c2b|title=Considerations: Safety}}
-{{:Team:Cambridge/Templates/RightImage|image=Cambridge-Photobacterium_plate.JPG|caption=One of the plates of <i>V. phosphoreum</i> we prepared.}}
-Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of:
-researcher safety,
-As with any scientific project, ours will require safety precautions to ensure the safety of researchers.  These include the use of gloves and labcoats to protect from chemicals which are irritants (including luciferin) and the use of masks when using powdered media.  Materials safety datasheets and COSSH forms will be used to assess risk.
-public safety, or
-There is very little risk to public safety as long as our project is correctly contained.  Control measures to ensure this include keeping the windows of the laboratory closed and autoclaving all waste.
-environmental safety?
-Do any of the new BioBrick parts (or devices) that you made this year raise any safety issues? If yes,
-did you document these issues in the Registry?
-how did you manage to handle the safety issue?
-How could other teams learn from your experience?
-Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution?
-If yes, what does your local biosafety group think about your project?
-If no, which specific biosafety rules or guidelines do you have to consider in your country?
-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?
+<html>
+<div style="width:250px; margin-left:50px; margin-bottom:30px; clear:both; float:right; class="rightpic"><div class="floatnone"><span><a href="/Image:Cambridge-mask.jpg" class="image" title="Cambridge-mask.jpg"><img alt="" src="/wiki/images/thumb/3/32/Cambridge-mask.jpg/250px-Cambridge-mask.jpg" width="250" height="375" border="0" /></a></span></div></div>
+</html>
+{{:Team:Cambridge/Templates/Topheader|header=Researcher safety}}
+As with any scientific project, ours will require precautions to ensure the safety of researchers.  These include the use of gloves and labcoats to protect from chemicals which are irritant (including luciferin) and the use of masks when using powdered media.  Materials safety datasheets and COSSH forms will be used to assess risk.
+==Public safety==
+There is very little risk to public safety from our project. We are using non-pathogenic lab strains of E. coli which have lost their ability to compete in the intestine.  The recombinant DNA we are creating emits light, it is difficult to see how this could ever engender pathogenicity even after horizontal transfer to other organisms. Nevertheless our project must be properly contained.  Control measures to ensure this include keeping the windows of the laboratory closed and autoclaving all waste.
+==Environmental safety==
+We are using lab strains of E. coli which do not thrive outside the lab, we are not conferring any additional fitness advantages on our bacteria apart from antibiotic resistance which is a common feature of lab work.  Our project does not pose a risk to environmental safety.  But containment remains essential
+==Do our BioBricks raise safety issues?==
+No, our parts do not pose any risk to public or environmental safety.
+==Biosafety at Cambridge==
+One of our advisors, Dr. Ajioka, is the biosafety officer for the Department of Pathology.  We were able to discuss the safety of our work with him at every stage of the project.  We also ensured we complied with the UK's biosafety regulations, taking advice from Dr. Ajioka.
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