Contents

1. Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of:
1.1 Reseacher Safety
1.1.1 Personal Protective Equipment
1.1.2 Safe work practises
1.2 Public Safety
1.3 Enviornmental Safety
2. Do any of the new BioBrick parts (or devices) that you made this year raise any safety issues?
3. Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution?
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?

Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of

Researcher safety

The chassis being used is non-hazardous E. coli DH5-alpha (NIH Risk Group 1) and requires fairly basic safety measures. Since we are also working with estrogen receptor binding drugs/analogs which could be hazardous to humans, we take required care to use these compounds in small amounts and avoid direct exposure by contact or inhalation. Once we are done with the experiment we dispose the agar plate and broth after autoclaving with proper quarantine.

Personal protective equipment

• Two layers of thick nitrile gloves are worn. Care is taken to avoid puncturing, tearing the gloves. They are discarded as hazardous waste after used.
• Protective eye glasses are used. In case splashes, sprays, or aerosols are generated, face shields are used to prevent accidental contact with eyes, nose, or mouth.
• Hands are washed after handling the chemicals and also after removing the personal protective equipment.

Safe work Practices

• Work is conducted in a specific contained area. All the containers are labeled with the name of the material and also a warning in case of Endocrine Disruptors.
• Containers are properly sealed and wiped before taking it out of the cabinet.