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Team:Clemson/Safety
From 2012.igem.org
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Key questions
For iGEM 2012, teams are asked to detail how they approached any issues of biological safety associated with their projects. Specifically, teams should consider the following questions:
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1. Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of:
*Researcher safety
All bacterial stains utilized in this project are Risk Group 1 microorganisms that are not know to cause illnesses. All students participating in this project have taken training in Chemical Hygiene and Laboratory Safety, Hazardous Waste management, Biological Safety, and Responsible Conduct of Research modules required by Clemson University before initiation of the work. In addition, they have also enrolled in the Collaborative Institutional Training initiative (CITI) program. They are required to pass the Recombinant DNA/Biosafety/NIH Guidelines, and the Responsible Conduct of Research modules. Students are required to wear appropriate Personal Protective Equipment when working.
*Public Safety
The materials and reagents used also do not represent any safety or health risk to the general public. All students work under superposition at all time and access to the building/laboratory is restricted and controlled. No general public entrance is allowed. Hence, the possibility of accidents and malicious misuse of our experimental material by other individuals or groups is minimized.
*Environmental Safety
The current experimental designs are proof-of-concept with no planed field test. Thus,they do not pose any risks to the general public or to the environment. All chemical/biological wastes are processed following the Clemson University Environmental Health and Safety Guidelines and pertinent federal guidelines.
2. Do any of the new BioBrick parts (or devices) that you made this year raise safety issues? If yes,
No. The parts produced by our group have all been promoter BioBrick parts and they do not raise any safety issues.
3. Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution?
The IFC follows the biosafety regulations from the UNAM and in particular the recommendations made by the Environmental Management Unit (http://alexandria60.etcserver.com/~fqugau/residu2_archivos/ddeewsfcss/apoyo.html). A more detailed protocol for identification, evaluation, characterization and disposal of substances which might pose some kind of biological risk can be found here (http://www.biomedicas.unam.mx/_administracion/_unidades_apoyo_inst/manual_bioseguridad.pdf). These regulations include handling of the basic equipment in a laboratory, management and disposal of biological and chemical waste, correct behavior in the laboratory, how to behave in case of laboratory accidents, what to do in case of emergency (i.e. fires, earthquakes) and protection measures. Before we have started our work in the lab, we were given an introductory lecture on the basic safety measurements we have to follow with special focus on the safety level we will be working (Biosafety Level 1). Some of the Mexican regulations on biosafety are summarized here (http://amexbio.org/links.html).
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?
No.
