Team:SDU-Denmark/safety-b

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==== Assessment by local bio-safety group ====
==== Assessment by local bio-safety group ====
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Assessment by local bio-safety group
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'''The Group'''
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Arbejdsmiljøgruppen is the local bio-safety group associated with the University of Southern Denmark. During an interview with a representative from this group we explained the project, it's scope, parts and procedure. The following is a number of questions concerning the safety and security issues relating to our project, and the essence of their replies
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If they perceived an increased risk due to work being performed by relatively inexperienced students
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“Arbejdsmiljøgruppen” (eng. The Working Environment Group) is the local bio-safety group associated with the University of Southern Denmark. During an interview with a representative from this group we explained the project, its scope, parts and procedure. The following is a number of questions concerning the safety and security issues relating to our project, and the essence of their replies.
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The project is not considered any more dangerous due to the fact that most of the work in the lab is performed by relative inexperienced students. As long as the lab's safety protocol is followed, and the fact that the risk-assessment of the work safety group put our project firmly on level 1, they believe that there should be little to no risk to lab personnel or the outside environment. As all students participating in the lab has successfully completed the lab safety course provided by the arbejdsmiljøgruppe, they perceived no increased risk.
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'''If they perceived an increased risk due to work being performed by relatively inexperienced students'''
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The project is not considered any more dangerous due to the fact that most of the work in the lab is performed by relative inexperienced students. As long as the lab's safety protocol is followed, and the fact that the risk-assessment of the work safety group put our project firmly on level 1, they believe that there should be little to no risk to lab personnel or the outside environment. As all students participating in the lab has successfully completed the lab safety course provided by The Working Environment Group, they perceived no increased risk.
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If they perceived any danger should the bacteria get out of the lab'''
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If they perceived any danger should the bacteria get out of the lab
 
They perceived no danger to the environment or the well being of animals, plants or human being should the bacteria be released into the environment. This is due to the extremely fragile nature of the E. coli strain that we are using in our project. Should it somehow find its way outside of the lab, it would die within a very short time.
They perceived no danger to the environment or the well being of animals, plants or human being should the bacteria be released into the environment. This is due to the extremely fragile nature of the E. coli strain that we are using in our project. Should it somehow find its way outside of the lab, it would die within a very short time.
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If there exists an emergency safety protocol in case of accident (i.e. unintentional release of GMM's into environment)
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The emergency protocol is still a work in progress, but although it is unfinished it should not pose a breach in safety, as we're only working with an level 1 GMM, which due to it's extremely fragile nature cannot survive outside of laboratory environment. This coupled with adherence to the standard laboratory safety protocol, should at all times ensure the safety of the environment.
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If there exists an emergency safety protocol in case of accident (i.e. unintentional release of GMM's into environment)'''
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The emergency protocol is still a work in progress, but although it is unfinished it should not pose a breach in safety, as we're only working with a level 1 GMM, which due to its extremely fragile nature cannot survive outside of laboratory environment. This coupled with adherence to the standard laboratory safety protocol, should at all times ensure the safety of the environment.
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'''Overall assessment'''
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We have at all times upheld the laws and regulations imposed upon us by UN and by the Working Environment Group. We have performed a risk-assessment of our project as required by the UN, as well as following the laws regarding to personal safety and to substitution of potentially harmful host and donor organisms. The work safety group has assessed our project to be a class 1 project, as they have perceived no risk associated with our work.
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They see no apparent way of weaponizing or in any other way using our project for malign purposes. Thus our project should not pose any threat to the security of the world at large. Although most of the genes inserted into our bacteria are harmless, hyper-flagellation is in fact something that increased pathogenicity, due to heightened mobility. Further the bacteria we work with are unable to survive and reproduce outside of laboratory conditions. Should it accidentally be released into the wild it would lose its plasmids within a very short time span and thus return to a non-GMO state. And as the bacteria we have been working with, namely E. coli mg.1065, is a naturally occurring bacteria, it should not pose any threat to the environment at all.
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As long as the normative work safety protocols were followed they could not perceive any danger due to the work being performed by relatively inexperienced students.
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Thus they perceived no security nor safety issues with our project.
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Overall assessment
 
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The work safety group [ufærdig]
 
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They see no apparent way of weaponizing or in any other way using our project for malign purposes. None of the modifications made to the bacteria has in any way made it more pathogenic. Further the bacteria we work with are unable to survive and reproduce outside of laboratory conditions. Thus they perceived no security issues with our project.
 
[http://www.bmwf.gv.at/fileadmin/user_upload/forschung/gentechnik/2009-41-EC.pdf [1]]
[http://www.bmwf.gv.at/fileadmin/user_upload/forschung/gentechnik/2009-41-EC.pdf [1]]

Revision as of 14:46, 15 October 2010