Team:Wisconsin-Madison/safety

Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of: researcher safety, public safety, or environmental safety?
The only organism we use in our lab is E. coli, strain DH10B. We follow standard BSL1 protocols to work with it, and any recombinant strains we produce. We have needed to extract genomic DNA from other organisms during the course of our research. When necessary, we have used the lab of our advisor, which is BSL2 rated. As with all recombinant DNA, our project should not, without proper extensive testing, be exposed to the environment or public.

Do any of the new BioBrick parts (or devices) that you made this year raise any safety issues? If yes, did you document these issues in the Registry? How did you manage to handle the safety issue? How could other teams learn from your experience?
All the parts we plan on producing involve better sensing of certain biofuel molecules. These parts will have no inherent safety issues, but should of course be used with caution when being paired with parts that do have risks associated. By only creating parts dealing with inputs, we run no added risk of producing dangerous compounds.

Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution? What do they think of your project? The Office of Biological Safety (OBS) in the Department of Environment, Health, and Safety at the UW-Madison runs a biological safety course which was mandatory for all iGEM participants. Beyond adhering to all guidelines established in this, we have not further discussed project specifics with the OBS.

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? Maintaining best practices established by biosafety committees is always useful, but there are even more interesting options that could be useful for broader synthetic biology safety down the road. For example, making engineered organisms dependent on non-standard nucleotides or amino acids which are only provided in a laboratory setting could help prevent the accidental release of recombinant organisms.

Safety Statement

"The attitudes and actions of those who work in the laboratory determine their own safety, and that of their colleagues and of the community. Laboratory equipment and design can contribute to safety only if they are used properly by people who are genuinely concerned and knowledgeable about safety issues."
If scientists in this new field want to reach for the sky, they must first pull themselves from the underground, for they have the World to prove to us.

Why Care About Safety?
Synthetic Biology is still an emerging field, but it has great promise for benefiting mankind through new cures, new treatments, new methods of fuel production, new chemical syntheses, etc. As the field becomes more powerful and its methods more accessible, it poses dangers if put into the wrong hands or if the wrong mistakes are made. As scientists in this emerging field, it is our duty to carefully evaluate any possible safety issues, not only because of general safety concerns, but also because any breach in safety has the potential for to demolish any positive public and scientific opinion. Though this new born field has great prospects, any negligence can ruin the field's reputation. We must prove to the general public and other scientists that the potential dangers of Synthetic Biology can be effectively recognized, controlled, and prevented.

What Safety Concerns Exist For Synthetic Biology?
The safety considerations for this project require reflection on the latent and inherent hazards of releasing or contacting a genetically modified bacterial strain. We wish to acknowledge and assess any possible hazards associated with a such a project. Throughout the entire development process of a new organism, from initial design conception to experimental implementations to real world applications, synthetic biologists must be conscious of the possible inherent dangers of bioengineering. Things like researcher safety, global health, and even market capitalization should all be considered when designing and preparing an organism for some world application: [picture: badgersafety]

What Safety Concerns Exist for Our Project?
The safety concerns for our project can be separated into two categories: the immediate concerns for our lab and researchers, and the concerns for public safety and environment if this organism gets widespread use.
Our project uses the DH10B strain of E. Coli, which has been specifically engineered for lab use for the propagation of large insert DNA clones [1]. DH10B is a very safe organism and is classified as a Biosafety Level 1 (BSL1) organism. All researchers were trained in the proper chemical and biological safety techniques, as is required per the Center for Disease Control (CDC) and National Institute of Health (NIH) guidelines. Adherence to these guidelines (proper lab attire, handling techniques, etc.) was maintained. Lab personnel were also given proper training on all lab equipment prior to use. Researchers were informed of the dangers of all the chemicals (Ethydium Bromide) used. Experiments required no further safety measures other than those specified in the BSL1 guidelines.
Our host strain (DH10B) was probably the most important factor regarding safety concerns for the environment and the public well-being. As previously mentioned, this E.Coli strain has been engineered for lab use due to its properties of high DNA transformation efficiency and the maintenance of large plasmids. Wild type strains of E.Coli would quickly outcompete DH10B in the event of human or environmental exposure. Initial experiments also seem to indicate that our sensing system strains the metabolism/homeostasis of our DH10B, further reducing its viability both inside and outside the lab environment. Additionally, the plasmids introduced into the DH10B strain do not contain any antibiotic resistances not commonly used for synthetic biology selectivity or otherwise improve the resistance, durability, or reproduction of our organism that would give it unique advantages/characteristics over its native brethren. If ever used in industry, our organism does not require any human or environmental exposure to be effective. It is intended solely for use in controlled environments (i.e. labs, feed reactors, etc.). The ethical implications for our organism are also considered.