Safety

From 2012.igem.org

Revision as of 14:18, 7 September 2012

Before answering these questions on your team Safety page, be sure to read the Safety in iGEM page. and the FAQ section below.

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:

Teams, please document any answers to these safety questions on your wiki safety page. Judges will be asked to evaluate your project, in part, on the basis of if and how you considered and addressed issues of biological safety. If any questions arise regarding iGEM and biological safety please send an email to safety AT igem.org.

FAQ

2.Do any of the new biobrick part (or device) that you made this year raise any safety issues?
*If yes, How did you manage to handle the safety issue?
Yes we do. To handle the security issue of our work, we always consult with the team advisor and instructor who handle the laboratory security work in IPB. Our security is guaranteed by following the standard operating procedures which provided in each laboratory. As a mechanism to ensure the safety of our work, first of all we started it by product testing step in the laboratory before applying it in nature, so when the result is guaranteed safely, it can be applied in nature.

*How could other teams learn from your experience?
Other teams can learn from the procedure that we have used. We use the common procedure that is used by molecular researchers at the laboratory, so its safety has been tested (as long as we follow the standard operation procedure had been given).

Question 3: We need clarification on the safety questions. Would you please provide guidance on each iGEM safety question?

1. Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of:

*researcher safety
We have isolated and cultured the bacteria sample from landfill at Galuga, West Java Indonesia. To prevent contamination by some harmfull bacteria, we have followed the instruction of safety procedure, such as using sensigloves, mask, and washing hand after sampling. Hazardous chemicals that we used are aclrilamide and ethidium bromyde. Acrylamide (or acrylic amide) is a simple organic compound with the chemical formula C3H5NO. It’s potentially hazardous to health (cancer or carcinogenic). Acrylamide can form long polymer chains known as polyacrylamide, which is also carcinogenic. Inhalation: irritation, disorientation, burning, convulsions. Contact with skin: irritation, disorientation. Eye contact: irritation, a burning sensation of the eyes, eye damage. Ethidium bromide will reduce the rate of migration of linear DNA molecules by 15%. This solution is extremely dangerous and carcinogenic. All solutions which contained ethidium bromide should be decontaminated before disposal. Ethidium Bromide (EtBr) will fluoresce under UV exposure. These dyes can be added to the gel and buffer so there is no staining after electrophoresis process. The advantage is more practical, but the possibility of EtBr contamination is greater. Due to the carcinogenic factor, it must be avoided for direct contact.

*Public Safety
We have ethics to minimize the danger possibility to public. We usually wear single-used gloves, covered shoes, lab coat, and mask so the accumulation of materials and impurities are not exposed to participant directly. We have a liquid discharge valves which equipped with running water, so it won’t settle. We also have a separated solid waste disposal for potentially hazardous materials. Those ethics are rules in our work on this project.

*Environmental Safety
No harmful effect on our enzyme product. E. coli bacteria which inserted by Cutinase gene has been set for its life period by sonicator so there’ll no blooming act in nature. Destruction of PET by using our products is done at indoor laboratory so the waste does not impact to the environment directly. The enzyme does not cause further effect especially for chemical / physical danger.No harmful effect on our enzyme product. E. coli bacteria which inserted by Cutinase gene has been set for its life period by sonicator so there’ll no blooming act in nature. Destruction of PET by using our products is done at indoor laboratory so the waste does not impact to the environment directly. The enzyme does not cause further effect especially for chemical / physical danger.

2. Do any of the new BioBrick parts (or devices) that you made this year raise safety issues? If yes,

*Did you document these issues in the Registry?
No, we don’t document the safety issue to the registry, but our procedure was according the Standard Operational Procedure of Molecular Biology Laboratory and Microbiology laboratory in IPB (Bogor Agricultural University). So we think our project hasn’t any safety risk during we follow the procedure carefully.

*How did you manage to handle the safety issue?
Yes we do. To handle the security issue of our work, we always consult with the team advisor and instructor who handle the laboratory security work in IPB. Our security is guaranteed by following the standard operating procedures which provided in each laboratory. As a mechanism to ensure the safety of our work, first of all we started it by product testing step in the laboratory before applying it in nature, so when the result is guaranteed safely, it can be applied in nature.

*How could other teams learn from your experience?
Other teams can learn from the procedure that we have used. We use the common procedure that is used by molecular researchers at the laboratory, so its safety has been tested (as long as we follow the standard operation procedure had been given).

3. Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution?

*Which specific biosafety rules or guidelines do you have to consider in your country?
We have no local biosafety committee at our institution but there are Biosafety rules or guidelines in our country. Please see below :
1. Regulation Law No. 32 of 2009 about Environmental Protection & Management
2. Law No. 7 of 1996 on Food
3. Law No. 18 of 2002 on National System Research,Development and Application of Science and Technology
4. Law No. 18 of 2004 on Plantation
5. Law No. 23 of 1992 on Health
6. Law No. 23 of 1992 on Animal, Fish, and Plant Quarantine
7. Law No. 41 of 1999 on Forestry
8. Government Regulation No. 21 of 2005 on Biosafety of Genetically Engineered Product
9. Presidential Decree 39 of 2010 on Biosafety Commision of Genetically Engineered Product.
10. INSTITUTIONAL ARRANGEMENT Biosafety Commision Established by Presidential Decree No. 39/2010
11. Biosafety Technical Team In the establishment process.
12. Biosafety Clearing House Regarding Article 20 of the Cartagena Protocol, Indonesia has been establish a Biosafety Clearing House to facilitate the exchange of scientific, technical , environmental and legalinformation on LMO. BCH is coordinated by Ministry of Environment in cooperation with Indonesia Institute of Science Secretariat of Biosafety Commission.
13. Law 32/2009. Every activities may create important risk on environment, biodiversity and human healthand human safety have to carry out Environmental Risk Analysis, Risk Assessment, Risk Management, Risk Communication.

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?

To ensure the biosafety, it will be more certified for documents which related materials provided to the participants. Each institution must have own fire fighters and integrates directly with the center of fire fighters and the local police. iGEM is required to add a safety tool for iGEM participants in the DNA kit. To minimize hazardous chemicals, so far the equipment that is used is fairly easy to control these biosafety. The system is recommended to used, better security, is an safety accordance, such as safety SOP, JSA (Job Safety Analyst).