Minimising risks to the safety and health of team members, or other people working in the lab:

All of our team members have completed lab inductions and thorough safety training before being allowed to work in the laboratory. Although our bacteria, E.coli DH5-alpha, is labelled as a Risk Group 1 microorganism and should pose no individual or community risk, lab coats and latex gloves are worn at all times, in order to avoid contamination of cultures. Bunsen burners are never left unsupervised and are not to be used after hours, in order to ensure that in case of an emergency, university staff would be present and able to offer immediate help. When working with UV light during gel extraction, a protective face shield will be worn, and care taken to ensure no skin is exposed to UV, for example between gloves and lab coat. In order to start working with CdCl2 we have completed a risk assessment form that was reviewed and approved by our supervisors. When working with Cadmium we will follow the lab safety instructions given by the University of York Chemistry Department, using a fume cupboard, gloves, lab coats and safety specs.

Minimising risks to the environment and/or general public (from waste disposal, or from materials escaping from lab):

The organism we are using for our project belongs to the Escherichia coli K-12 strain, one of the bacterial model organisms widely used in microbiology and molecular genetics research. Unlike the wild type strains, which cause food poisoning, this particular strain is not pathogenic. The risk assessment of the derivatives of E. coli K-12 (http://epa.gov/biotech_rule/pubs/fra/fra004.htm) shows that the strain is incapable of colonising the human gastrointestinal tract, because it lacks cell wall components that are necessary for attachment to the intestinal walls. Although the bacteria could suffer unpredictable mutations, we believe that our genetically modified product would not be able to compete in the environment, because of the expression of energetically costly genes. However, in order to minimise the risk of our bacteria getting into the environment, we always make sure to adequately dispose of our plates and samples, autoclaving all containers and glassware that housed our microorganism. All of our work is clearly labelled so as to avoid accidental disposal of cultures. We dispose of our Cadmium containing waste in appropriate containers that is then collected by the Chemistry Laboratory Staff and work surfaces are regularly disinfected with ethanol.

Risks to security through malicious mis-use by individuals, groups, or countries:

We are working exclusively with non-pathogenic bacteria that would not pose a threat to either humans or the environment. Access to the university’s laboratories is restricted and only members of the department can access them during working hours. After hours, only university staff and members of the iGEM team are allowed access to the laboratories.

Features we have designed to minimise any risks:

If we had more time we would introduce a kill-switch that would render our bacteria unable to survive when environmental conditions change. This is a widely-used regulatory switch used by many iGEM teams.