Safety
Safety
Please note that all information on this page is in a draft version.
Please check back often for details.
Safety deadlines and forms will be published by the end of February 2015.
Timeline
Safety deadlines and forms will be published by the end of February 2015.
What is Safety in iGEM?
iGEM teams follow a high standard of safe and responsible biological engineering. There are three main areas of safety that iGEM teams must attend to: Safe Project Design, Safe Lab Work, and Safe Shipment.
Safe Project Design
Safe Lab Work
Safe Shipment
iGEM teams and the Registry frequently exchange samples of DNA through the mail. Although these shipments are generally not dangerous, they are still governed by national and international laws. iGEM teams should learn how to ship DNA samples safely and legally.
Learn more about Safe Shipment
Who is the iGEM Safety Committee?
- Marissa Cardwell, MIT Environment, Health, and Safety Office
- Peter Carr, MIT Lincoln Laboratories
- Kirsten Jacobsen, Public Health Agency of Canada
- Tom Knight, Ginkgo BioWorks
- Todd Kuiken, Synthetic Biology Project, Woodrow Wilson Center
- Claudia Mickelson, MIT Environment, Health, and Safety Office
- Piers Millett, Woodrow Wilson Center
- Kenneth Oye, MIT Program on Emerging Technologies
- Megan Palmer, SynBERC
- Anastasia Rogaeva, Public Health Agency of Canada
- Samuel Yu, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology
Safety Form
Every team should complete a Safety Form. This form lets you show us several things:
- That you are working responsibly in an appropriate lab.
- That you are in contact with the biosafety authorities of your university/institution, or of your country.
- That you are working with your advisors to ensure good lab practices.
The Safety Form also helps you think further about safety for your project as it is now, and as it might be in the future. You should complete a Preliminary Version of your safety form by July 21: answer as many questions as you can, tell us about different project ideas, and don't worry about making it perfect. Then, you should complete a Final Version of your safety form by September 1. On the Final Version, you should answer all the questions completely.
Any team members can write the Safety Form and save it as a draft. You will need an Instructor to submit the form.
What about non-biological safety?This year, the iGEM safety program only covers biological safety. iGEM does not have safety policies or safety forms for hazardous chemicals (methanol, ethidium bromide, etc.), equipment (open flames, liquid nitrogen equipment, etc.), or radioactivity (radio-labeled nucleotides, etc.). Your advisors and instructors are responsible for ensuring that you work safely with any chemicals, equipment, or radioactivity that you use. Consult your instructors, your laboratory manager, or your lab safety office for help with non-biological safety. Of course, if you have a question or concern about non-biological safety, you are welcome to ask us (safety AT igem DOT org) at any time! Similarly, we encourage you to write about these issues on your wik
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