Team:Washington/Project/Safety/Secretion

Our work on Gram-negative Therapeutics was done only on non-pathogenic strains. We used the Type VI Secretion System from Pseudomonas aeruginosa PAO1. All modifications and testing of plasmids and fosmids were in non-pathogenic E. Coli strains, namely EPI300, SW102, and BL21. All cloning and testing of Tse2 was done in the non-pathogenic E. coli strains DH5a, MG1655, and BL21. The toxin we work with, Tse2, targets only prokaryotic cells, thus posing no direct danger to humans. At no time was a working type six secretion system placed into E. coli producing Tse2. Therefore, none of the strains could cause any possible ecological danger.