Team:Utah State/Safety

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1. Would the materials used in your project and/or your final product pose:

a. Risks to the safety and health of team members or others in the lab?

No risks to safety and health of the members. All of our biobrick parts were put into Escherichia coli DH5α. We did not use any pathogenic strains of E.coli, nor were any of our biobrick constructs of any potentially hazardous pathways. Our lab is a BSL 2 rated lab. In addition to putting biobricks into E.coli we also put some of our parts into the Cyanobacteria Synechocystis PCC 6803.

b. Risks to the safety and health of the general public if released by design or accident?

As with any recombinant microbes significant testing needs to be conducted at the laboratory scale before being released to the public. Materials in our project would not pose any significant risk to the public. Since our project does not focus on pathogenic or infectious pathways even if released by accident there would be no risk to the general public. Parts are cloned into vectors containing antibiotic resistance and thus the bacteria would not be able to maintain the plasmids in an environment outside of the lab.

c. Risks to environmental quality if released by design or accident?

There would be no risk to environmental quality if released by desing or accident. As mentioned previously all parts are cloned into vectors containing antibiotic resistance.

d. Risks to security through malicious misuse by individuals, groups or states?

There would be no risk to security through malicious misuse by individuals, groups or states. None of our biobrick parts pose any risk to security.

Please explain your responses (whether yes or no) to these questions.

Specifically, are any parts or devices in your project associated with (or known to cause): - pathogenicity, infectivity, or toxicity? - threats to environmental quality? - security concerns?

2. If your response to any of the questions above is yes: a. Explain how you addressed these issues in project design and while conducting laboratory work. b. Describe and document safety, security, health and/or environmental issues as you submit your parts to the Registry.

3. Under what biosafety provisions will / do you operate? Our lab operates under BSL2 safety provisions.

a. Does your institution have its own biosafety rules and if so what are they? Provide a link to them online if possible.

Yes, Utah State University does have its own biosafety rules. A link is provided here: http://ehs.usu.edu/htm/programs-and-services/biological-safety

b. Does your institution have an Institutional Biosafety Committee or equivalent group? If yes, have you discussed your project with them?

Describe any concerns or changes that were made based on this review. Yes Utah State University has an Institutional Biosafety Committee. http://www.usu.edu/fsenate/PDF/Utah%20State%20University%20Councils%20and%20Committees%20Handbook%202010-11.pdf

c. Will / did you receive any biosafety and/or lab training before beginning your project? If so, describe this training.

All undergraduate students are trained by the Environmental Health and Safety department at Utah State University. This training covers basic laboratory safety procedures and practice. It is required that everyone (including graduate students and staff) who works in a laboratory at Utah State University take this day long course. In addition, all undergraduates were trained specifically on biological safety by experienced graduate advisors and faculty before they were allowed to work in the laboratory. For more information about Utah State University laboratory safety training please see: http://ehs.usu.edu/htm/training/health-and-safety-training-courses

d. Does your country have national biosafety regulations or guidelines? If so, provide a link to them online if possible.

The United States has strict regulations and guidelines for biosafety. The National Institute of Health (NIH) has guidelines for working with recombinant DNA. See: http://oba.od.nih.gov/oba/rac/Guidelines/NIH_Guidelines.htm The centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) also has guidelines for biosafety. See: http://www.cdc.gov/biosafety/

4. OPTIONAL QUESTION: Do you have other ideas on how to deal with safety or security issues that could be useful for future iGEM competitions? How could parts, devices and systems be made even safer through biosafety engineering?