Team:Cambridge/Safety

One of the plates of V. phosphoreum we prepared.

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 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.

How could other teams learn from your experience?

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.