Team:USTC/Project/safe

overview

While the study of synthetic biology may lead to more efficient ways to produce medical treatments, to solve pollution problems.etc., it may also lead to synthesis or redesign of harmful pathogens (e.g., smallpox) by malicious actors.So it is necessary that we make sure we conduct experiment with a non-infectious host organism and estimate the potential risks before and when doing the experiment.Also strictly following some standards on synthetic biology concerning the safety is also required.

experimental safety

• Just like any other practical activities in school science, all microbiology investigations require the user to adopt good laboratory practice. The preliminary experiment training made sure that every one of us get familiar with the whole system of basic microbiology investigations and get adroit skills especially for those in related majors.
• Several regulations has been set to guarantee personal protection.
  
  • Food or drink should not be stored or consumed in a laboratory or prep room that is used for microbiology.
    
  • No-one should lick labels, apply cosmetics, chew gum, suck pens or pencils or smoke in a laboratory or prep room.
    
  • Facilities should be provided within the laboratory or prep room for hands to be washed with soap after handling microbial cultures and whenever leaving the lab.
    
  • Paper towels or some other hygienic method should be used for drying hands. If contamination of the hands is suspected, then they should be washed immediately with soap and water.
    
  • Cuts or abrasions should be protected by the use of waterproof dressings or by wearing disposable gloves.
    
  • Safety glasses should be worn in some certain circumstances,eg. when using a UV lamp.
    

• Work Safety in our lab is categorized into two levels as follows:
  • Level 1: organisms we work with have little known risk and are observed in the closed containers in which they are grown. Microbes (K12) we growing is tested as non-risk and harmless, furthermore, by culturing closed containers which are taped before examination and remain unopened unless the cultures inside have been killed by the autoclave sterilizer. We made every effort to exclude any possibility of unsafety.
  • Level 2: biological reagents we use are considered on environmental and human safety. We choose GelRed instead of EB as our nuleic acid stains.

asking the experts

In case we may neglect some potential risks of the Bacterial Microcompartment (BMC) encoded by pdu operon from Salmonella enterica,we also wrote a letter consulting the safety issues of BMC to professor Martin Warren (one of the writers of Synthesis of Empty Bacterial Microcompartments, Directed Organelle Protein Incorporation, and Evidence of Filament-Associated Organelle Movement [http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6WSR-4YX6M74-H&_user=1555926&_coverDate=04%2F23%2F2010&_rdoc=1&_fmt=high&_orig=search&_origin=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1507901721&_rerunOrigin=scholar.google&_acct=C000053683&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=1555926&md5=7792f360749d8fdb12d3e537c5df4ce5&searchtype=a]

Below are the qustions and his answer.

1) Some people think the E.coli we are engineering could evolve into some superbug with the help of the BMC.What do you think the chances of that may be? What measure do you think we should take to prevent that?

You are probably doing the engineering in an E. coli laboratory strain - which is quite safe and unlikely to survive if released. Moreover, there is no evidence that the BMC confers any great advantage - E. coli has already lost the pdu operon so it cannot be that important.

2) Beside doing the experiment,we have already organized a campus-wide talk to extend awareness on synthetic biology as well as to instill a scientific and responsible attitude towards it.To what extent do you think that can help eliminate people's panic over our work? Have you ever done something similar?

The important thing is not to be arrogant with science - take on people's concerns and answer each question they raise. Synthetic biology is an amalgamation of genetic and metabolic engineering. As such, Nature has been doing this for 3.5 billion years. We still have a lot to learn and we do have to be careful. Nonetheless, synthetic biology offers genuine hope for the enhanced production of biofuels, vitamins, drugs and chemicals, which is managed properly could enhance the lives of many people worldwide.

Thanks to them ,our primary concern are lifted.Thank you for your help and kindness!O(∩_∩)O~

answering key questions

For iGEM 2010 teams are asked to detail how they approached any issues of biological safety associated with their projects. Specifically, teams should consider the following questions: