Team:Penn/Safety

Biological chassis

Our work throughout iGEM has been split between using three different E. coli strains (DH5 alpha, W3110, and MG 1655) and Magnetospirillum Magneticum AMB-1. All four of these strains pose minimal risk inside the lab. We use strict biosafety laboratory techniques such as wearing gloves when handling these organisms and any piece of lab ware that comes in contact with them.

E. coli

All three strains of E. coli are highly conserved and pose minor risks when handled carefully in the lab. They are all rod shaped, gram negative bacteria. While E. coli survives in the intestinal tract of many organisms, all three strains used in the lab are safe to work with as they lack the adaptability and capability to cause infection. ATCC has assigned all strains a biosafety level of 1. In order to prevent contamination of any samples in the lab, including mammalian cell cultures, we dispose of all E. coli by bleaching cultures and then disposing of equipment in biohazard. We also wear gloves and exercise caution while handling anything with bacteria.

Magnetospirillum Magneticum AMB-1

AMB-1 in the Lab

Magnetospirillum Magneticum AMB-1 is a strain of magnetic bacteria that poses minimal health risk to humans in a lab environment. This strain of bacteria is too sensitive to environmental conditions to cause infections to humans. At the same time, all procedures used to handle E. coli were also used with Magnetospirillum Magneticum AMB-1. This includes bleaching old cultures, disposing old tubes according to biohazard protocols and wearing gloves while handling cultures.

AMB-1 in the Environment

The use of AMB-1 as a chassis for bioremediation also eliminates some safety concerns that synthetic biologists had with E.Coli. Using an engineered strain of E.Coli runs the risk of disrupting natural ecosystems through competition of species and horizontal gene transfer. This major safety dilemma is addressed by creating a foundational chassis that can be removed from the contaminated water by manipulating its magnetic properties. Implementation of a filtration device incorporating this bioremediation agent in a water treatment facility (add link to robot page) would allow us to remove cadmium from the water with minimal impact on the aquatic environments. This is also a serious safety improvement from chemical precipitation and ion exchange methods that are currently used to treat cadmium pollution because it does not leave harmful byproducts that could negatively impact the organisms that populate the waterways.

Public Safety

Since some of our bacteria may have antibiotic resistance and could theoretically pose a health risk, we use biohazard protocols to prevent any release of our bacteria from the lab. This includes bleaching cultures before disposing of them and disposing of any old tubes in biohazard containers. This eliminates the risk of any bacteria escaping our lab or making their way into any adjacent labs. If released accidentally, none of the strains we used in our project generate any toxic proteins and should not have harmful impacts.

Safety Training

All team members have participated in a thorough Penn environmental and safety training course that helped us prepare for work with hazardous substances, infectious agents and human source materials. A link to this course is provided below. Also, a link to the national biosafety guidelines has also been provided. Penn lab safety course: http://www.ehrs.upenn.edu/programs/bio/ National biosafety guidelines: http://www.absa.org/resbslinks.html