Team:Tokyo-NoKoGen/Safety
At the end, the E. coli may potentially spread in the environment and affect the ecosystem by acting on other insects!
To help prevent the unwanted spread of our engineered E. coli, we expect the future addition of a light-inducible lysis device. This lysis system would allow the E. coli to grow well and produce the insecticide only under the condition at colony in the dark. However, E. coli that exits at the termite’s surface would die once it’s exposed to light. A possible arrangement may involve placing colicin-E1 under the control of the light inducible CcaS/CcaR two-component regulation system.
All members are given a detailed training about basic lab safety, for example, how to handle reagents and equipment (autoclave, burners, etc.) safely. Every week, we have a short meeting to discuss any safety issues that come up. We also learn how to handle genetically modified organisms during experiments and how to treat before disposing them.
>Laboratory safety training requirements of our institution (Japanese only)
We submitted the details of our projects to him. We follow his advice.
>Biosafety guidelines of our institution(Japanese only)
>The regulations that govern biosafety in research laboratories. (Japanese only)
The only species we use is Escherichia coli, all of which are classified as risk group1 and they do not harm human health.
But termites give the damage to buildings if they escaped from out cages. We used termites carefully in the experiments so as not to escape to the outside. And we took care of the condition of living termite, especially temperature. Our using termites have a potential to get wings. So we had to keep them under 25 ℃ at all times.
(1)To minimize risks to team members, we have a strict policy that anyone who enters the lab must wear goggles and lab coat, and anyone doing experiments also must wear gloves. Eating and drinking is strictly forbidden in our lab.
(2)To minimize risks to public health and environment, we ensure that all biological materials are promptly autoclaved after using and disposed of appropriately. Furthermore, we follow our University and country regulations and guidelines for collecting and disposing of any toxic waste generated; our facility have already been equipped to handle such wastes.
Biological materials and reagents used in our experiments are never brought outside the laboratory.
(3)To minimize the risks of malicious misuse, the lab facilities are only unlocked when experiments are carried out, so our Biobrick parts and reagents cannot be stolen.
