Team:Brown-Stanford/Lab/Safety

From 2011.igem.org

Revision as of 22:37, 7 July 2011

Safety

Safety on Earth

Our iGEM project involves working with non-pathogenic strains of bacteria, including Escherichia coli (K12 and TOP10), Bacillus subtilis, and Sporocarcina pasteurii, as well as some species of cyanobacteria, including Anabaena 7120, Nostoc punctiforme, Synechocystis 6803, Cyanothece 7822, and Synechococcus elongatus 7942. E. coli K12 and TOP10 are workhorses of the lab and do not proliferate in the environment. In our research we did not augment the fitness of any of these strains apart from adding antibiotic resistance, but these are a common lab practice for selecting the transformed strains. Because cyanobacteria might contaminate wastewater, our strains were kept in vials and refridgerators when not in use. Following our biohazard training, no bacteria were disposed of down the sink, but were autoclaved to kill all cells and spores. To protect the safety of our student researchers, we each took several courses on laboratory safety and biohazard safety at Brown, Stanford, and NASA Ames.

We do not believe that our BioBrick parts will have any negative effect on the environment. None of our parts cause the strains to gain any harmful attributes.

PowerCell

The cyanobacteria used are not known to have any harmful attributes.

REGObricks

B. subtilis, S. pasteurii, and E. coli are not known to have any harmful attributes.

Biosensor

E. coli is not known to have any harmful attributes.

Safety and Ethics on Mars

"States Parties to the Treaty shall pursue studies of outer space, including the moon and other celestial bodies, and conduct exploration of them so as to avoid their harmful contamination and also adverse changes in the environment of the Earth resulting from the introduction of extraterrestrial matter and, where necessary, shall adopt appropriate measures for this purpose." -Article IX of the Outer Space Treaty, 1967

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Because our project’s goal is to develop synthetic biology applications for Mars, we need to consider the ethical ramifications of contaminating a foreign planet with microorganisms from Earth. The Outer Space Treaty (formerly known as The Treaty on Principles Governing the Activities of States in the Exploration and Use of Outer Space, including the Moon and Other Celestial Bodies) put into action in 1967 and signed by 98 countries, prohibits the harmful contamination of celestial bodies. The reasons for avoiding such contamination generally involve protecting the pristine environment of space. However, Brown-Stanford iGEM believes that in order for the successful colonization of the solar system it is necessary to allow for a degree of biological contamination onto another planet such as Mars. In the interest of research, biological contamination could potentially preclude the discovery of any native life on Mars by either out-competing it, or more likely, casting into doubt any forms of life we may find. Thus, it is important to have biological tracers on the organisms that are brought into space to identify them as originating from Earth. Additionally, settlement by humans may cause large-scale environmental change on the level of ecopoeisis. Without going into the philosophical arguments of balancing human species preservation with the intrinsic value of extraterrestrial ecologies, it is the opinion of Brown-Stanford iGEM that advancing civilization beyond the boundaries of Earth is the greatest achievement a species.