Our Questions

Question 1: Would any of your project idea raise safety
issues in terms of research safety, public safety or
environmental safety?

The strain of E. Coli we chose to work with, DSM
1103 is considered within Biosafety level 1 and as
such is considered an agent with minimal potential
hazard to laboratory personnel and the environment.
In any case an outbreak were to happen, our E. Coli
strain doesn’t contain genes with toxin or antibiotic
resistance. In case of contact with eyes or mouth, E.
Coli can cause infections and as such we use wear
gloves when dealing with our bacteria and dispose
them in red safety bags a company will then sterilize
before throwing them away.

Question 2: Are any parts or devices in our project
associated with (or known to cause) pathogenicity,
infectivity, toxicity, threats to environmental quality
or security concerns?
The biggest risk comes from E. Coli infections to our
team handling bacteria, an issue for which we have
taken precautions. There are no other infectivity,
toxicity of pathogenicity threats from our project.
Security concerns are very low, as there are minimal
security risks. Materials used are very common in
microbiology labs and cannot be used maliciously or
weaponized.