Team:Bonn/Safety

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iGEM 2012 Biosafety Questionaire

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

researcher safety,
public safety, or
environmental safety?

2. 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?
How could other teams learn from your experience?

3. 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?

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?

iGEM 2012 Team Bonn Biosafety

1. Safety issues

A biosafety laboratory such as where we are working has to fulfill several [http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gentsv/anhang_iii_34.html standards and is subjected to many rules] (e.g. no pipetting with the mouth, no food, drinking or storage of food in the laboratory). GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are subjected to restrictions in Germany. We work with biosecurity stage 1 (S1) organisms. The [http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gentsv/index.html#BJNR023400990BJNE001503320 GenTSV] (German act of genetics) defines them as neither human-, phyto- nor animalpathogenic.

To work in a biosecurity laboratory of the stage 1 (S1), each team member had to take a course about biosafety and regulations in Germany (as required in [http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gentsv/BJNR023400990.html#BJNR023400990BJNG000301308 §8-12]). Our advisors showed us how to correctly us the appliances in the laboratory. Every person working in the laboratory had to wear protective clothing (laboratory coat, protective gloves).

During our work in the lab we had to take more safety measures concerning the use of ethidium bromid. The use of nitril gloves is mandatory, we are only allowed to use it in a special ethidium bromid fume hood and the waste is disposed of seperately from any other waste in the lab. Due to work in an area where radioactive chemicals are used we had to carry a dosimeter with us

2. New Biobricks and safety issues

The new BioBricks we designed do not raise any safety issues. The LOV plasmid is a light sensor which is uneffective without effector protein but releases the effector protein under the influence of blue light. The function of LOV-lacZ-alpha is to create a part of split-beta-galactosidase, whereas LOV-ccdb leads to cell death of the bacteria.

3. Regulations in Germany, Lab-training of team members

A biosafety laboratory such as where we are working has to fulfill several [http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gentsv/anhang_iii_34.html standards and is subjected to many rules] (e.g. no pipetting with the mouth, no food, drinking or storage of food in the laboratory). GMOs (genetically modified organisms) are subjected to restrictions in Germany. We work with biosecurity stage 1 (S1) organisms. The [http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/gentsv/index.html#BJNR023400990BJNE001503320 GenTSV] (German act of genetics) defines them as neither human-, phyto- nor animalpathogenic.