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Team:Brown/Human Practices/Safety
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==Safety== | ==Safety== | ||
| - | This year, our lab work was done in the Escherichia coli | + | This year, our lab work was done in the Escherichia coli chassis. The NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules details proper safety practices for work involving Escherichia coli, which is an exemption under Section III-F-6. Appendix C-II "Escherichia coli K-12 Host-Vector Systems" suggests Biosafety Level I (BSL I) physical containment conditions. Our team complied with these BSL I practices. Our work with E. coli does not pose any particular researcher, public, or environmental safety concerns given proper BSL I practices. |
With regards to our specific project material, we were particularly careful to ensure we took the proper precautions. While our Light Pattern Controlled Circuit project does not raise any particular safety concerns beyond accommodations for work with E. coli, we noted some safety issues with the Tat protein transduction domain (Tat-ptd). This short amino acid sequence was originally obtained from the HIV virus - it is believed that this short sequence allows the HIV virus to transduce across host membranes. Our project presents this Tat-ptd as a tool for the iGEM community, as we designed a cassette that allows a researcher to easily insert a protein of choice to be linked to the Tat-ptd. This gives a researcher the potential to carry any protein across a cell membrane. In this sense, our Tat-ptd cassette is a tool that is not inherently dangerous; there are no significant safety concerns in expressing the Tat-ptd. However, like any tool, our cassette could potentially be used in a harmful manner. Coupling the Tat-ptd / linker cassette with malignant proteins could have potentially devastating effects, given exposure (skin contact, ingestion) at a significant level, as this complex would permeate across many cells in the body. Thus, use of our Tat-ptd/linker cassette with human transcription factors or other sensitive material would require more sophisticated safety precautions. | With regards to our specific project material, we were particularly careful to ensure we took the proper precautions. While our Light Pattern Controlled Circuit project does not raise any particular safety concerns beyond accommodations for work with E. coli, we noted some safety issues with the Tat protein transduction domain (Tat-ptd). This short amino acid sequence was originally obtained from the HIV virus - it is believed that this short sequence allows the HIV virus to transduce across host membranes. Our project presents this Tat-ptd as a tool for the iGEM community, as we designed a cassette that allows a researcher to easily insert a protein of choice to be linked to the Tat-ptd. This gives a researcher the potential to carry any protein across a cell membrane. In this sense, our Tat-ptd cassette is a tool that is not inherently dangerous; there are no significant safety concerns in expressing the Tat-ptd. However, like any tool, our cassette could potentially be used in a harmful manner. Coupling the Tat-ptd / linker cassette with malignant proteins could have potentially devastating effects, given exposure (skin contact, ingestion) at a significant level, as this complex would permeate across many cells in the body. Thus, use of our Tat-ptd/linker cassette with human transcription factors or other sensitive material would require more sophisticated safety precautions. | ||
| - | To learn more about what precautions should be taken with "normal" or "intended" use of our cassette, our team consulted the Office of Environmental Health and Safety at Brown University, where our research was conducted. | + | Each member of the team completed a Laboratory Safety course before beginning research in the lab. To learn more about what precautions should be taken with "normal" or "intended" use of our cassette, our team consulted the Office of Environmental Health and Safety at Brown University, where our research was conducted. The biological safety specialists at our institution advised us to follow BSL II procedures for work involving the expression of any Tat-fused proteins, despite the lack of expected human effects. For manipulations involving the Tat domain in DNA form, our existing BSL I protocols would be sufficient. |
Revision as of 07:58, 25 October 2010
Safety
This year, our lab work was done in the Escherichia coli chassis. The NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules details proper safety practices for work involving Escherichia coli, which is an exemption under Section III-F-6. Appendix C-II "Escherichia coli K-12 Host-Vector Systems" suggests Biosafety Level I (BSL I) physical containment conditions. Our team complied with these BSL I practices. Our work with E. coli does not pose any particular researcher, public, or environmental safety concerns given proper BSL I practices.
With regards to our specific project material, we were particularly careful to ensure we took the proper precautions. While our Light Pattern Controlled Circuit project does not raise any particular safety concerns beyond accommodations for work with E. coli, we noted some safety issues with the Tat protein transduction domain (Tat-ptd). This short amino acid sequence was originally obtained from the HIV virus - it is believed that this short sequence allows the HIV virus to transduce across host membranes. Our project presents this Tat-ptd as a tool for the iGEM community, as we designed a cassette that allows a researcher to easily insert a protein of choice to be linked to the Tat-ptd. This gives a researcher the potential to carry any protein across a cell membrane. In this sense, our Tat-ptd cassette is a tool that is not inherently dangerous; there are no significant safety concerns in expressing the Tat-ptd. However, like any tool, our cassette could potentially be used in a harmful manner. Coupling the Tat-ptd / linker cassette with malignant proteins could have potentially devastating effects, given exposure (skin contact, ingestion) at a significant level, as this complex would permeate across many cells in the body. Thus, use of our Tat-ptd/linker cassette with human transcription factors or other sensitive material would require more sophisticated safety precautions.
Each member of the team completed a Laboratory Safety course before beginning research in the lab. To learn more about what precautions should be taken with "normal" or "intended" use of our cassette, our team consulted the Office of Environmental Health and Safety at Brown University, where our research was conducted. The biological safety specialists at our institution advised us to follow BSL II procedures for work involving the expression of any Tat-fused proteins, despite the lack of expected human effects. For manipulations involving the Tat domain in DNA form, our existing BSL I protocols would be sufficient.
