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Team:St Andrews/safety
From 2011.igem.org
Safety
Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of: research safety, public safety, or environmental safety?
Do any of the new Biobricks that you made this year raise any safety issues? If so, did you document these issues with the registry, how did you manage to handle the safety issue, and how could other teams learn from your experience?
Is there a local biosafety group at your institution, and if so, what do they think of your group project?
Do you have any other ideas how to deal with safety issues that would be useful for future iGEM competitions? How could parts, devices, and systems be made even safer through biosafety engineering?
The well being of others is an important factor in all scientific work. Many
scientific advances of recent years have been pioneered in order to improve the lives of
those in the community, as well as across the world.
Our iGEM project involves working in a laboratory setting, and this poses several
potential risks to researchers. Being around dangerous chemicals require us as students
to take serious precautions against lapses in lab safety. Gloves and lab coats will be
worn at all times in order to prevent accidental chemical contact. Dangerous components
have been marked as such to deter misuse. Furthermore, we have received documents
explaining our lab safety protocols in detail, and copies will be kept both in the lab
alongside the copies we bring home. As for public or environmental safety, we feel our
project poses very little risk. We are using non-pathogenic E. Coli, which are unlikely to
transfer to other individuals, and testing on live subjects will not be pursued.
The Biobrick we plan to create this year should pose no safety risks to the public.
There are unknown factors involved in the destruction of bacterial cells; however, since
no in vivo testing will take place, any risks involved are nullified.
The Biology Health and Safety Committee at the University of St. Andrews is led
by Dr. Bernie Precious. We will be working in conjunction with Dr. Precious throughout
our project, alongside the standard laboratory safety rules as set by the committee.
Reducing risk both within and outside of the lab is key to the success of future
scientific advancement. With this in mind, we have recently removed ethidium bromide,
a carcinogenic substance used for the detection of DNA during gel electrophoresis, from our labs. Replacing potentially harmful substances with safer alternatives will increase
lab safety, and allow for a reduction in materials required to handle dangerous chemicals,
thus saving us money as well. Safety should be the utmost priority for students of the
sciences across the world. |
