• Safety
• Timeline
• What is Safety in iGEM?
• Requirements
• Help!
• Our Responsibility
• Committee

• Risk Groups
• White List
• Policy Against Release
  of Wet-Lab Projects

• Check-In
  throughout summer
• About Our Lab
  due June 26
• About Our Project
  due June 26
• Final Safety Form
  due August 28

What are Risk Groups and Safety Levels?

Microorganisms are classified into four Risk Groups, and biological laboratories are classified into four corresponding Safety Levels. Risk Group 1 contains non-pathogenic organisms like yeast and E. coli K-12. The majority of iGEM teams use only Risk Group 1 organisms. Some teams use Risk Group 2 organisms. The use of Risk Group 3 and 4 organisms is not permitted in iGEM.

	RG 1	RG 2	RG 3	RG 4
Examples	E. coli K-12, yeast (S. cerevisiae), Lactobacillus, B. subtilis	Streptococcus, Herpes virus, most mammalian cell lines	Yersinia pestis (black plague), HIV, SARS virus	Ebola virus, Marburg virus, Lassa virus
Description	RG 1 organisms do not cause disease in healthy adult humans.	RG 2 organisms can cause disease in humans, but the disease is treatable or preventable.	RG 3 organisms cause serious disease in humans. Treatments and vaccines for these diseases may exist.	RG 4 organisms cause deadly disease in humans, and they can easily travel from one person to another. No treatments or vaccines exist for these diseases.
Lab Safety Level	Safety Level 1	Safety Level 2	Safety Level 3	Safety Level 4
Typical Lab Photo

How can I find out the Risk Group of my organism?

To determine the Risk Group of an organism, we must consult reliable sources. There is no world-wide standard list of microorganisms and their Risk Groups. Some countries and some cell culture vendors have provided lists, but no single list includes all species, so you might need to check several sources. iGEM recommends three sources for Risk Group information: Canadian PSDS, NIH Guidelines, and DSMZ.

Canadian Pathogen Safety Data Sheets (PSDS)

The Public Health Agency of Canada has published safety data sheets for a wide variety of microorganisms.

• PSDS in English
• FTSSP (fiches techniques santé-sécurité : agents pathogènes) en Français

To use the PSDS, begin by scrolling down and finding your species in the list. Click on the species name to bring up extensive safety information about that species. Scroll down to "SECTION VII". Some species have a "RISK GROUP" explicitly listed. Other species only have "CONTAINMENT REQUIREMENTS", which will recommend an appropriate laboratory Safety Level / Containment Level.

NIH Guidelines

The NIH Guidelines are a set of rules that govern research on recombinant/synthetic DNA in the United States. Appendix B of the guidelines gives a list of pathogens in Risk Groups 2, 3, and 4. It does not list Risk Group 1 organisms.

Click here to go directly to Appendix B.

DSMZ

DSMZ (Deutsche Sammlung von Mikroorganismen und Zellkulturen / German Collection of Microorganisms and Cell Cultures) is a large collection that includes Risk Group information for thousands of different species, strains, and cell lines. It is more difficult to use, but it includes the most species of any source we have found.

• Catalogue Microorganisms -- search bacteria. Enter your genus, species, and/or strain information in the "Search term" box, and click Search. You will receive a long list of results, which may include many different strains and species. Examine the list to find the correct strain, and click on its DSM number to view its catalogue page. The Risk Group is listed in the table.
• Catalogue Human and Animal Cell Lines -- search this catalogue by the same method as for Catalogue Microorganisms.
• Prokaryotic Nomenclature Up to Date is an alphabetical list of all bacterial and archaeal species names with standing in the literature. Find your species in the list, and click on its name to view details. In the table row "Type strain", look for a blue DSM link. If one is present, it will bring you to a DSMZ catalogue page where you can find details about that species. The Risk Group is listed in the table. (If there is no blue DSM link, it means that the DSMZ does not offer that species.) Note: Prokaryotic Nomenclature Up to Date concerns wild organisms, not lab strains. Therefore, it will tell you that E. coli is Risk Group 2. E. coli K-12, or "lab strain" E. coli, is not the same as "wild" E. coli! (For more information, read the orange box on the right.)

Other sources

If you cannot find your species in any of the recommended sources, you must find another reliable source. There may be a paper in the peer-reviewed scientific literature that describes your species. Your country's government might have a list of microorganisms and their Risk Groups.

For help finding a reliable source, you can consult your advisor, or speak to the biosafety authorities of your university. You can also contact <safety AT igem DOT org> for help.

What about animals and plants?

The four Risk Groups only apply to microorganisms (bacteria, fungi, and viruses), with very few exceptions. For animals, plants, and other multicellular organisms, there are different safety guidelines. Your country and your university have their own guidelines governing experiments on animals and plants. You should consult your advisor, your lab manager, or the authorities at your university.

If you are using a part from an animal or plant, you should consider the function of the part, and consider whether it might be dangerous to humans. For example, the gene that codes for Green Fluorescent Protein comes from the jellyfish Aequorea victoria. Therefore, in the strictest interpretation, GFP does not have any associated Risk Group. However, GFP is only a fluorescent protein, absorbing and emitting light, so it is safe for humans and you can use it in a Level 1 laboratory. If you consider a different gene from A. victoria, such as the gene that produces the toxin in its stinging tentacles, you might get a very different answer!