Team:IvyTech-South Bend/Safety

Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of: * researcher safety, * public safety, or * environmental safety? The scope of our project involved the creation of an IGEM that at " never leaves the lab" so shouldn't raise any issues of public safety. Working with an microbe that has been the recipient of recombinant DNA and given antibiotic resistance is always raises both research and environmental safety concerns. However, appropriate steps to have been taken to prevent accidental release of the microbe into the lab environment. Organisms that possessed recombinant DNA and antibiotic resistance were grown and manipulated under controlled conditions and disposed of as hazardous medical waste. Do any of the new BioBrick parts (or devices) that you made this year raise any safety issues? If yes, * did you document these issues in the Registry? * How did you manage to handle the safety issue? None beyond those indicated for their parent part. Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution? * If yes, what does your local biosafety group think about your project? * If no, which specific biosafety rules or guidelines do you have to consider in your country? No biosafety group or committee exists for our college. The guidelines for the culturing, handling, and disposing of microorganisms with recombinant DNA are consistent with those followed for BioSafety Level 1 (BSL1) and cGLP. 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? Yes, chassis could be derived from auxotrophic strains to further insure against accidental release from the lab.