Team:Evry/Policy and Practices/Safety/Conclusion

To have bacteria that lives at the surface of the sponge is very interesting in order to profit from its filtration power. However, it is probably not possible at our current knowledge to create an entirely fail-proof containment system based on a strict dependence of the bacteria to nutrients produced by the sponge. This strict dependence would decrease the probability of our engineered bacteria to spread into the oceans, though. And since we believe that our bacteria would not be likely to survive long in the wild because of its lack of competitiveness, and that the modifications brought to its genome are unlikely to be dangerous to the environment, placing a sponge with our bacteria in the oceans would probably not be very dangerous for the environment. But does a low chance at escaping, a low chance at survival, and a low risk of harm to the ecosystem, suffice to say that it would be safe? The risk, however thin, can never entirely disappear.