Team:Utah State/Safety

From 2011.igem.org

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==Safety==
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1. Would the materials used in your project and/or your final product
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1.Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of:  
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pose:
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researcher safety,
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a. Risks to the safety and health of team members or others in the lab?
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public safety, or  
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environmental safety? No
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2.Do any of the new BioBrick parts (or devices) that you made this year raise any safety issues? No
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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.
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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?  
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b. Risks to the safety and health of the general public if released by
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design or accident?
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3.Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution? Yes
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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.
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c. Risks to environmental quality if released by design or accident?
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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.
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If yes, what does your local biosafety group think about your project? No issues
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d. Risks to security through malicious misuse by individuals, groups
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or states?
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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.
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If no, which specific biosafety rules or guidelines do you have to consider in your country?
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Please explain your responses (whether yes or no) to these questions.
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4.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?
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Specifically, are any parts or devices in your project associated with
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(or known to cause):
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- pathogenicity, infectivity, or toxicity?
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- threats to environmental quality?
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- security concerns?
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Please use this page to answer the safety questions posed on the [[Safety | safety page]].
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2. If your response to any of the questions above is yes:
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a. Explain how you addressed these issues in project design and while
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conducting laboratory work.
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b. Describe and document safety, security, health and/or environmental
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issues as you submit your parts to the Registry.
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3. Under what biosafety provisions will / do you operate?
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Our lab operates under BSL2 safety provisions.
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a. Does your institution have its own biosafety rules and if so what are they?
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Provide a link to them online if possible.
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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
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b. Does your institution have an Institutional Biosafety Committee or
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equivalent group? If yes, have you discussed your project with them?
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Describe any concerns or changes that were made based on this review.
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Yes Utah State University has an Institutional Biosafety Committee.
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http://www.usu.edu/fsenate/PDF/Utah%20State%20University%20Councils%20and%20Committees%20Handbook%202010-11.pdf
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c. Will / did you receive any biosafety and/or lab training before
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beginning your project? If so, describe this training.
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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
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d. Does your country have national biosafety regulations or
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guidelines? If so, provide a link to them online if possible.
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The United States has strict regulations and guidelines for biosafety.
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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
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The centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) also has guidelines for biosafety. See:
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http://www.cdc.gov/biosafety/
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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?

Revision as of 05:09, 29 August 2011


This is a template page. READ THESE INSTRUCTIONS.
You are provided with this team page template with which to start the iGEM season. You may choose to personalize it to fit your team but keep the same "look." Or you may choose to take your team wiki to a different level and design your own wiki. You can find some examples HERE.
You MUST have a team description page, a project abstract, a complete project description, a lab notebook, and a safety page. PLEASE keep all of your pages within your teams namespace.



You can write a background of your team here. Give us a background of your team, the members, etc. Or tell us more about something of your choosing.
Utah State logo.png

Tell us more about your project. Give us background. Use this is the abstract of your project. Be descriptive but concise (1-2 paragraphs)

Your team picture
Team Example


Home Team Official Team Profile Project Parts Submitted to the Registry Modeling Notebook Safety Attributions


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?

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