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From 2012.igem.org

Safety

Introduction

Our project is about viral coat proteins, produced in and extracted from E. coli, that are fused to a coil for standardized attachment of arbitrary ligands or structures. One of the main reasons for our team to choose this project over some of our other brainstorm ideas is the relative safety of the end product. We envision an end product that is completely DNA-free and non-replicative. We think that such a product, once well purified, could be used in arbitrary processes without possessing any of the hazards and risks that are usually associated with Genetically Modified Organisms.

However, no matter how safe we envision our end product to be, the road towards it is a synthetic biology one. Synthetic Biology is a fun, interesting and above all promising scientific field. Nonetheless, it is also subject to inherent hazards which can affect both researchers, the public and the environment. It is therefore of crucial importance that anyone working in this field is thoroughly aware of these dangers and takes the necessary precautions to minimize any risks that might occur.

We will be working with viral proteins and DNA, with genetically modified organisms to produce them, and with different techniques, machines and chemicals to manipulate them. This page will provide an overview of the issues related to biological safety and security that are relevant to our project, as well as answer the key safety questions provided by iGEM 2012[link]. A review on the safety issues related to our use of Virus-Like Particles and their genes is included separately[link].

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Rest

Document by Joel: https://docs.google.com/file/d/0B8iNePuwQ4O1TkdDQjZ4MlZpa3M/edit (Actual text starts at page 4)

Safety page last year: https://2011.igem.org/Team:Wageningen_UR/Safety/Newformat