Team:SCUT/Safety
Safety
What have you done to stay safe in the lab ?
Firstly ,we don’t use any pathogenic microorganism ,secondly ,we use gloves and mask when necessary ,thirdly, all the vectors and genetic microorganism and Cd2+ solution won’t be abandoned directly into environment unless they are treated properly.
What potential damage may be caused when the genetic microorganism are used in industrial environment?
Because the Cd2+ solution can only be absorbed rather than be broken down, if the genetic microorganism which have absorbed Cd2+ are not recycled,it will release Cd2+ to natural environment sooner or later. At the same time ,the genetic microorganisms may cause a potential damage to the natural ecosystem.
How do you dispose the waste Escherichia coli?
The E.coli we used is not harmful to human beings. But in order to protect everyone in the laboratory and prevent the E.coli from polluting the environment. We take the boil way to kill the E.coli before it is abandoned.
How do you dispose the medium with cadmium ion?
Since Cadmium ion is a highly toxic heavy metal, our project utilizes the Cadmium ion that is low contribution. In order to keep the cadmium ion pollution under control, we add the phosphate buffer to the cadmium ion solution to form precipitation. Then, we would send the cadmium ion precipitation to the environment agency of SCUT.
What will we do to improve the problem mentioned above ?
We have come up with 2 possible ways to solve it. First of all, we tend to add a adhesion molecule mechanism which is controlled by PCadA to make it easier to get down in the bottom of the water as the microorganism begin to absorb Cd2+.So the Secondly, we add auxotrophic genes in the relevant auxotrophic bacteria which are controlled by PCadA so that the genetic microorganisms can live in our polluted water rather than natural environment.
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?
We believe using specific strains designed specifically for labwork will be safer. It is possible to genetically modify the organisms so that, they are not able to grow outside the lab environment. There probably is not a way to build some biobricks that can be modified in order to make them safer since their function will be the cause of safety issues.