Team:Lethbridge/safety

1. Your Training

a)  Have your team members received any safety training yet?

Yes, we have already received safety training.

b)  Please briefly describe the topics that you learned about (or will learn about) in your safety training.

All University of Lethbridge iGEM team members are trained in WHMIS as well as site-specific training in accordance with University of Lethbridge Risk and Safety Services. Training includes an introduction to biosafety basics such as personal protection equipment, aseptic technique, and appropriate disposal of biohazardous materials. Some members have additional training such as radiation and animal care training.

c)  Please give a link to the laboratory safety training requirements of your institution (college, university, community lab, etc). Or, if you cannot give a link, briefly describe the requirements.

http://www.uleth.ca/risk-and-safety-services/content/safety-0

2. Your Local Rules and Regulations

a)  Who is responsible for biological safety at your institution? (You might have an Institutional Biosafety Committee, and Office of Environmental Health and Safety, a single Biosafety Officer, or some other arrangement.) Have you discussed your project with them? Describe you concerns they raised, and any changes you made in your project based on your discussion.

The University of Lethbridge Risk and Safety Services department has appointed a committee for biosafety. This committee ensures that biological materials are used safely on campus. We have discussed our project with them and they forsee no problems with the Lethbridge 2014 iGEM project. 

b)  What are the biosafety guidelines of your institution? Please give a link to these guidelines, or briefly describe them if you cannot give a link.

http://www.uleth.ca/risk-and-safety-services/content/biosafety

c)  In your country, what are the regulations that govern biosafety in research laboratories? Please give a link to these regulations, or briefly describe them if you cannot give a link.

The Canadian Biosafety Standards and Guidelines set by the Public Health Agency of Canada.  http://canadianbiosafetystandards.collaboration.gc.ca/

3. The Organism and Parts that You Use

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4. Risks of Your Project Now

Please describe risks of working with the biological materials (cells, organisms, DNA, etc.) that you are using in your project. If you are taking any safety precautions (even basic ones, like rubber gloves), that is because your work has some risks, however small. Therefore, please discuss possible risks and what you have done (or might do) to minimize them, instead of simply saying that there are no risks at all.

a)  Risks to the safety and health of team members, or other people working in the lab:

Ethidium bromide (EtBr) used to detect DNA is a potential carcinogen and UV rays are known to cause DNA mutations. Eukaryotic cells cultures, such as human embryonic kidney cells (HEK 293 cells) do pose a cancer risk if handled improperly.

b)  Risks to the safety and health of the general public (if any biological materials escaped from your lab):

EtBr used to detect DNA is a potential carcinogen and UV rays are known to cause DNA mutations. Eukaryotic cells cultures, such as human embryonic kidney cells (HEK 293 cells) do pose a cancer risk if handled improperly. Any enzymes (i.e. restriction and ligase enzymes) and DNA used in the lab are of very minimal risk to the public.

c)  Risks to the environment (from waste disposal, or from materials escaping from your lab):

Minimal risk to the environment as all waste is disposed of using necessary, effective, and widely used safety precautions and disposal methods.

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

Minimal risk for malicious mis-use by individuals, groups or countries as our cell lines and parts do not pose a significant threat to the environment or individuals

e)  What measures are you taking to reduce these risks? (For example: safe lab practices, choices of which organisms to use.)

Any work performed in the lab is done in a manner that poses minimal risk to team members and other people working in the lab. For instance, proper PPE such as lab coats and gloves are worn when working with EtBr. EtBr-stained gels are analyzed in a contained box that protects the users from UV rays. 

The E. coli strains we use are non pathogenic and pose little risk to the general public. Despite this, proper disposal of biohazardous materials are followed - any disposable laboratory materials are autoclaved prior to disposal and any reusable materials are decontaminated with bleach as per standard operating procedures. All eukaryotic cell lines are handled as per biosafety level 2 rules and guidelines and are disposed of correspondingly.

5. Risks of Your Project in the Future

What would happen if all your dreams came true, and your project grew from a small lab study into a commercial/industrial/medical product that was used by many people? We invite you to speculate broadly and discuss possibilities, rather than providing definite answers. Even if the product is "safe", please discuss possible risks and how they could be addressed, rather than simply saying that there are no risks at all.

a)  What new risks might arise from your project's growth? (Consider the categories of risk listed in parts a-d of the previous question: lab workers, the general public, the environment, and malicious mis-uses.) Also, what risks might arise if the knowledge you generate or the methods you develop became widely available?

In general, the application of our products on mass could yield new risk factors that need to be addressed. Due to the mass production of both E. coli, human, and mouse cell lines needed for research and end-user use, safe and effective guidelines for disposal will need to be followed. Consequently, this may require the development of enhanced disposal methods specific for this purpose. In addition, the knowledge gained if we could specifically target astrocytes with exosomes to deliver a plasmid could be used maliciously - our plasmid DNA could be exchanged for another plasmid containing a harmful gene. On the other hand, the methods and knowledge generated from our project for non-antibiotic selection of bacterial strains would have a positive effect if the information were to become widely available.

b) Does your project currently include any design features to reduce risks? Or, if you did all the future work to make your project grow into a popular product, would you plan to design any new features to minimize risks? (For example: auxotrophic chassis, physical containment, etc.) Such features are not required for an iGEM project, but many teams choose to explore them.

Our system for antibiotic free selection would result in a reduction of the use of antibiotics. As such, its success would result in reducing the risk of antibiotic resistant bacteria.