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General

We are working with two new (to iGEM) bacteria strains to pick our chassis from, Pseudomonas putida & Pseudomonas fluorescens. These bacteria are classified as Biohazard level 1 organisms, not known to cause any form of disease to humans, nor are they known to be capable of aerosolizing.

Our final kit is designed to not introduce any organisms into the environment. Instead, tailings pond water samples will be added to our device, rather than the other way around. Even in the slim possibility that our bacteria manage to escape into the environment, the bacterial chassis are natively found in oil sand tailings ponds. The metabolic pathways will be altered such that they do not outcompete native bacteria found in the tailings ponds.

Any mutation to the biobricks we are using would just render them inoperative. It is highly unlikely that the bacteria would start producing harmful substances as a result of random mutation.

Overall it can be said that the bacteria do not pose a risk to humans. The only risk they pose to the environment is the remote chance that they might outgrow un-modified bacteria. However, this can only happen in a lactose rich environment, which the oil sands tailings ponds are not. The media which the bacteria are in, the tailings pond water (TPW), is more harmful than the bacteria due to the toxic substances like heavy metals and NAs.

Research Safety

All of the work is being done in level 2 Biosafety labs. All researchers have received appropriate training and are aware of all applicable safety procedure and guidelines.

Public Safety

The idea is to design a kit which is extremely user friendly. One way to design it would be that the kit includes a test tube with the bacteria to which the TPW sample is added. If the user follows the instruction he won’t come into contact with the bacteria or the TPW.

Environmental Safety

Again, the design of the kit is such that bacteria will be in a controlled and contained setting. In the extremely unlikely case that such bacteria become released into the environment, the species are native to tailings ponds and therefore do not pose a threat to outcompeting other species. As well, the metabolism of the species allow them to process toxic naphthenic acids in tailings ponds, which would in fact be more beneficial. We will determine the most suitable way to treat tailings water samples after testing in order to destroy the bacteria. The three options we are considering are autoclaving, addition of bleach (or other similar chemical) to the sample, and suicide genes in the bacteria.

Safety of Parts Submitted

The parts we intend to submit include transcription factors sensitive to naphthenic acids, which are non-oncogenic and do not produce anything known to harm humans or wildlife. As well, we intend to submit a horizontal gene transfer mechanism, which will be strictly controlled with a killswitch mechanism in the extremely unlikely event that it is passed onto native bacteria. Even so, the only ability that this gene transfer mechanism will confer will be the ability to detect and break down toxic naphthenic acids.

A Statement from the Biosafety Officer

We have contacted our local Biosafety officer, who supports our project. Click here to read the official statement of endorsement.