Team:Cambridge/Safety

One of the plates of V. phosphoreum 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 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, 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?

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.

Do any of the new BioBrick parts (or devices) that you made this year raise any safety issues? No.

How could other teams learn from your experience?

Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution? Yes 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?