Safety

Please note that all information on this page is in a draft version. If you have questions, email safety AT igem DOT org.

iGEM treats the safety of participants and the public and protection of the environment as top priorities. To this end, iGEM has adopted a review process that challenges participants to address the safety, security and environmental implications of their work.

Deadline

TBA

INSTRUCTIONS:

The 2014 safety program is still in development. We will notify you when the safety requirements are finalized. In the meantime, you may get a head-start by scrolling down on this page and watching the two videos!

• ALL iGEM 2014 teams must complete the 2014 Overall Safety Form (coming soon!)
• Application for use of non-exempt biological materials / exemption list

Safety Form Resource

In order to complete these forms and submit them to the iGEM Safety Committee, you will need to know a few things about the organisms you are working with. More specifically, you will need to know the Risk Group (and corresponding Biological Safety Level) for the organisms and some of the parts you are working with. Here are some sites that should help you find out the Risk Group for your organisms and parts.

We have created a Risk Group and Biological Safety Level quick reference table. Use this table to help determine which BSL you should be using for an organism with a certain RG.

Organism Risk Group classification:

• American Biological Safety Association The ABSA has a searchable database of organisms that give the risk group for many different regions.
• National Institutes of Health Risk Group Definitions. This appendix of the NIH guidelines lists the Risk Group classification for organisms and gives examples of RG2, RG3 and RG4.
• The Australia Group List of Biological Agents for Export Control. This page lists many organisms that can't be used in iGEM. They are dangerous pathogens. Heavy restrictions apply to the international shipment of these organisms, as well as to the international shipment of their DNA. You should avoid using organisms on this list, because they are dangerous to handle in the lab. You should also avoid creating or using genetic parts from these organisms, because you won't be able to send the DNA to the Registry.

Lab Biosafety:

World Health Organization Laboratory biosafety manual. The WHO biosafety manual will help you determine the BSL (biosafety level) classification of your lab, if you don't know it already.

Additional Information

For help in completing safety requirements, please watch these two videos:





Made available through SynBERC. Video by Terry D. Johnson, based on slides by J. Christopher Anderson, both of UC Berkeley Bioengineering.

Your Country's Safety Requirements

All teams must fulfill local requirements for review and approval of projects by university institutional biosafety committees, where available. iGEM will defer to approvals and waivers granted by local biosafety committees when documentation is provided. All teams should seek guidance and information from their university's biosafety committees or other appropriate local groups.

Note: Standards for review vary from nation to nation and university to university. You will need to check local university documents and websites for requirements.