Team:Jilin China/Safety

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Part  Name	Natural  Function	Usage in our project
hxlR	formaldehyde-sensitive promoter	detect formaldehyde and express the downstream genes
T7	promoter in cleaning system	express the two dehydrogenase genes
GFP	green florescent protein	detect formaldehyde
T7 RNA polymerase	enzyme in gene translation	combined effort with T7 promoter for expression
FDH	formate dehydrogenase	degrade formate into CO2 and H2O
PADH	formaldehyde dehydrogenase	degrade formaldehyde into formate

Question1: Have you ever recieved any safety training? Can you describe the topics that you learned about (or will learn about) in your safety training?

Answer: Yes, our team members have already received safety training during 2015 spring. We have learned the following aspects.

1.Safety laws and policy

2.Fire safety and emergency procedures

3.Electrical safety

4.Safety information resources including MSDS (Material Safety Data Sheet)

4.Waste disposal procedures

5.Use of personal protective equipment

6.Practicing safe science

7.Use of fume cupboards

8.Principle of Biological Safety

9. Risk-Grouping of Micro-organisms by Type

10.Biosafety Level

11.Biowastes

12.Sterilization

13.Autoclave Safety and Disinfection

14.Genetically Manipulated Organisms

15.Work with Recombinant DNA

16.Bacterial Culture

17.Treatment of Biological Waste and Spill Cleanup

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

Answer: Our main chassis, E.coli BL21, is a non-pathogen E.coli strain. At the same time, we have weakened it and so it can’t survive in case of leakage. Our parts, both basic parts and devices, are all taken from risk group 1 organisms and therefore do not contain or mimic any virulence factors. What’s more, our project includes inducible parts so that there would be more control over the introduced genes. For example, we add T7 RNA polymerase gene into the first vector and only its combined effort with T7 promoter can make the downstream genes express. So it not only ensures more control but also reduces the unnecessary expression in the cell.

Question 3: Experimental Safety Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of: researcher safety, public safety, or environmental safety?

Answer:Researcher safety: At first, as we have mentioned in Q2, any of our biobrick parts is safety. And all the researchers have been trained before they start this experiment. So there should not be any severe risks if all steps are handled properly according to our biological safety guidelines. Public safety: As the organism we use is from Risk group 1 and it already exists in nature, it won’t be high-risky for human beings. Moreover, we have weakened it, so it can’t survive in case of leakage. Of course if we put it into practice, we will also use effective way to immobilize it. Thus, it won’t escape and do any damage to human health. Environmental safety: the bacteria we use have been weakened and immobilized, we ensure that it won’t leak. Of course, if we put our project into practice, we will also use proper proposal method to deal with the waste. Therefore, it won’t be a threat to environment.