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Team:HokkaidoU Japan/Safety
From 2012.igem.org
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1.
Would the materials used in your project and/or your final product pose:
Risks to the safety and health of team members or others in the lab?
Risks to the safety and health of the general public if released by design or accident?
Risks to environmental quality if released by design or accident?
Risks to security through malicious misuse by individuals, groups or states?
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Safety and health of researchers:
in the method of bioplastic polymer extraction, the use of chloroform may have the risk of injury. This risk can be avoided by the use of gloves and eye glasses. -
Public safety:
Genetically engineered bacteria may accidentally spread out to the environment. If the bacteria could aggregate by themselves, it will be easier to collect them. In the future, as a measure to remove bacteria from the environment, study of aggregation protein would be useful. -
Environmental safety:
Cleaning and disposing of bacteria,bioproducts,wastes, are needed by special infrastructure. Bioplastics (P3HB) which we are going to submit, are biodegradable plastics. The study of bioplastics will lead us to a oil resource free society. -
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? - The parts we submitted this year does not have safety risks according to professional judgment.
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3.
Is there a local bio safety group, committee, or review board at your institution?
If yes, what does your local bio safety group think about your project? - We have "the Safety Office of Genetic Recombination in Hokkaido University". Our lab is equipped appropriately for the manipulation and genetic recombination of bacterial cells. Team members are instructed according to the safety training manual.
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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? -
Our team suggests that users should always know the safety risks and the rules of of the parts, devices, and systems.
We should always keep in mind to take a look of the safety page related to the parts that you are going to use.
Our suggestion are very simple, but as long as you are a scientist and an iGEM members, it can not be forgotten.
