Team:Montgomery Cougars NJUSA/Safety

From 2014hs.igem.org

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Safety is a primary goal for our iGEM team. To ensure that everyone working on experiments follow all safety precautions, we developed a number of safety presentations about topics such as personal protective equipment, aseptic technique, and laboratory practice. To ensure that all the members knew the regulations, we administered a safety exam for all R&D members.
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==iGEM Safety Questions==
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<p style="line-height:1">Before answering these questions on your team Safety page, be sure to read the [https://igem.org/Safety  Safety in iGEM] page. and the FAQ section below.</p>
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===1. Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues?===
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<p style="line-height:1">For iGEM 2014, teams are asked to detail how they approached any issues of biological safety associated with their projects. Specifically, teams must consider and provide answers to the questions below: </p>
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[[Image:gi.jpg|375px|right|thumb|The use of goggles in a lab environment is mandatory in our school.]]
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<p style="line-height:0.5">
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===Why does iGEM ask teams to address safety questions and screen projects?===
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iGEM safety questions and screening procedures are designed:
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*-To protect team members as they work in their labs, iGEM institutions, the general public and the environment
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*-To encourage team members to consider safety, health, security, and environmental implications of their projects, both within and beyond the scope of iGEM competition.
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Montgomery High School's iGEM team works out of a high school laboratory with Containment Level 1. We use non-pathogenic strains of ''E. coli'' and do not work with any hazardous chemicals. Nevertheless, we ensure that all students tie up any long hair and wear gloves, safety goggles, pants, and closed-toed shoes during lab activities. All students underwent a lab safety demonstration in early January and practiced streaking bacteria, pipetting, etc. to ensure the use of proper technique. In regard to our lab environment, the classroom we use has multiple showers, a fire extinguisher, an eye-wash station, multiple sinks, and a first aid kit.
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===iGEM Safety Questions===
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Our project is contained from public use, and is unattainable for any purpose other than pure research. In an effort to better the current acne medications we only want researchers to have access to this mechanism, and therefore strive to keep the bacteria secure.
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====1. Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of:====
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*researcher safety,
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*public safety, or
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*environmental safety
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=====Guidance:=====
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===2. Do any of the new BioBrick parts (or devices) that you made this year raise safety issues?===
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There are three recommended steps in addressing this question.  
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#To start, please list organisms you are using and organisms from which your parts are derived, indicating the risk group or biosafety level for each.  For help, see Table 1 and 2 of the [http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/biosafety/Biosafety7.pdf World Health Organization (WHO) Laboratory Biosafety Manual].  You are welcome to use your national standards if you prefer.  If national standards do not use the WHO 1-4 scale, please provide a link to an explanation of your standards. 
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#Then consider risks to team members, publics and environment if the project goes according to plan.  Please describe risks posed by lab equipment and chemicals as well as biological parts and organisms.  How are you addressing these issues in project design and lab work?  Have you received biosafety training and other laboratory safety training?  If so, please briefly describe the training.
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#Then consider risks to team members, publics and environment if the project does not go according to plan.  What are risks if safety measures such as containment procedures go wrong and organisms or parts are released?  What are risks to security from malicious misuse?    How are you addressing such risks?
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[[Image:ha.jpg|400px|left|thumb|All science rooms in our school are equipped with an emergency shower and eye washing station.]]
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Unfortunately, we have not created any new BioBrick parts this year. However, our biobrick parts are all from the iGEM registry and are quality controlled to behave as listed.
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====2. Do any of the new BioBrick parts (or devices) that you made this year raise safety issues? If yes, ====
 
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*Did you document these issues in the Registry?
 
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*How did you manage to handle the safety issue?
 
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*How could other teams learn from your experience?
 
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=====Guidance:===== 
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===3. Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution? ===
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Please reference the biosafety level of parts. If you are working with anything other than a BSL1 organism, take extra care with this question. Your nation regulates handling and transfer of pathogens and parts associated with pathogenicity.  For a list of regulated organisms, see the [http://www.australiagroup.net/en/biological_agents.html Australia Group website].
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There is no biosafety group at our high school. Our iGEM team is responsible for safety. As such, we have completed a mandatory lab safety quiz as well as practiced with certain equipment to ensure mastery.
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We follow the World Health Organization Laboratory safety regulations: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/biosafety/en/Biosafety7.pdf 
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[[Image:287992.jpg|300px|right|thumb|We use gloves to protect both the team members and sterility of bacteria]]
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====3. Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution? ====
 
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*If yes, what does your local biosafety group think about your project?
 
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*If no, which specific biosafety rules or guidelines do you have to consider in your country?
 
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=====Guidance:===== 
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===4. Do you have any other ideas how to deal with safety issues that could be useful for future iGEM competitions? How could parts, devices and systems be made even safer through biosafety engineering?===
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The iGEM Safety Committee is not a substitute for national and local university institional biosafety committees 
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# Does your university have a Biosafety Committee or equivalent? Please provide a link to regulations and local requirements.
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# Is your project in compliance with national regulations and university requirements?
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# If you are working with any organisms or parts requiring containment arrangements above BSL 1 or equivalent, have you consulted with your Institutional Biosafety Committee regarding your project?
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In the future, we hope to have access to input from an experienced synthetic biologist or past iGEM advisor. With this aid, we can avoid experimental and lab error as well as ensure safety. Perhaps each team could be assigned an "iGEM headquarters adviser" who would guarantee the validity and security of their team's project. This would both increase the organizations involvement with the teams, as well as provide another expert opinion on top of each team's faculty adviser and college adviser.
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==Disposal==
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[[Image:so.jpg|375px|right|thumb|A team member spraying cultures with bleach.]]
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[[Image:s567.jpg|200px|left|thumb|A team member spraying cultures with bleach.]]
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We spray contaminated cultures with bleach to sterilize before disposal so that it does not contaminate the rest of the garbage. This insures that in the off chance that the illegitimate biobrick is harmful, the bacteria carrying it will not grow and proliferate into a biohazard. Even when there is no visible evidence of contamination, we take precautions to decrease the risk of unpredicted difficulties.
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====4. Do you have any other ideas how to deal with safety issues that could be useful for future iGEM competitions? How could parts, devices and systems be made even safer through biosafety engineering? ====
 
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=====Guidance:===== 
 
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This is an open-ended space for you to consider and suggest ways of improving safety or safety awareness at iGEM and beyond.  Some iGEM teams have offered ideas (and sometimes full projects) to limit gene flow, to create software for screening pathogens, and to reduce reliance on antibiotic resistant markers.  Other iGEM projects have discussed concerns that might arise if the project succeeded and became widely used, as commercial product or other means of distribution.  Some iGEM projects have discussed risks that might materialize if the knowledge generated or methods developed were to become more widely available.
 
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Latest revision as of 03:11, 21 June 2014

Safety

iGEM Safety Questions

1. Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues?

The use of goggles in a lab environment is mandatory in our school.

Montgomery High School's iGEM team works out of a high school laboratory with Containment Level 1. We use non-pathogenic strains of E. coli and do not work with any hazardous chemicals. Nevertheless, we ensure that all students tie up any long hair and wear gloves, safety goggles, pants, and closed-toed shoes during lab activities. All students underwent a lab safety demonstration in early January and practiced streaking bacteria, pipetting, etc. to ensure the use of proper technique. In regard to our lab environment, the classroom we use has multiple showers, a fire extinguisher, an eye-wash station, multiple sinks, and a first aid kit.

Our project is contained from public use, and is unattainable for any purpose other than pure research. In an effort to better the current acne medications we only want researchers to have access to this mechanism, and therefore strive to keep the bacteria secure.

2. Do any of the new BioBrick parts (or devices) that you made this year raise safety issues?

All science rooms in our school are equipped with an emergency shower and eye washing station.

Unfortunately, we have not created any new BioBrick parts this year. However, our biobrick parts are all from the iGEM registry and are quality controlled to behave as listed.


3. Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution?

There is no biosafety group at our high school. Our iGEM team is responsible for safety. As such, we have completed a mandatory lab safety quiz as well as practiced with certain equipment to ensure mastery.

We follow the World Health Organization Laboratory safety regulations: http://www.who.int/csr/resources/publications/biosafety/en/Biosafety7.pdf


We use gloves to protect both the team members and sterility of bacteria

4. Do you have any other ideas how to deal with safety issues that could be useful for future iGEM competitions? How could parts, devices and systems be made even safer through biosafety engineering?

In the future, we hope to have access to input from an experienced synthetic biologist or past iGEM advisor. With this aid, we can avoid experimental and lab error as well as ensure safety. Perhaps each team could be assigned an "iGEM headquarters adviser" who would guarantee the validity and security of their team's project. This would both increase the organizations involvement with the teams, as well as provide another expert opinion on top of each team's faculty adviser and college adviser.

Disposal

A team member spraying cultures with bleach.
A team member spraying cultures with bleach.

We spray contaminated cultures with bleach to sterilize before disposal so that it does not contaminate the rest of the garbage. This insures that in the off chance that the illegitimate biobrick is harmful, the bacteria carrying it will not grow and proliferate into a biohazard. Even when there is no visible evidence of contamination, we take precautions to decrease the risk of unpredicted difficulties.


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