Safety
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Considering the implications of synthetic biology tools to the world beyond the lab, It is important to maintain safe and ethical use of engineered organisms.
Wet Lab Safety
Even a relatively innocuous chassis such as E. coli can be risky to use if improperly handled. To prevent exposure, we wore basic personal protective equipment in the lab at all times. This included appropriate clothing, covered shoes, lab coats, goggles, and disposable gloves.
When choosing bacteria to use in our microbial fuel cell for their special ability to degrade Terephthalic Acid, a by-product of PET plastic degradation, we were careful to select only BSL1 organisms.
To prevent our engineered microbes from being released into the environment, we followed our host lab’s guidelines for proper disposal of organic waste.
General Lab Safety
Some techniques involved using chemicals that are hazardous to inhale. When working with such chemicals, we were careful to only work under the fume hood. Flammables were stored in a separate cabinet and disposed of according to strict guidelines.
Safety in Collaboration
We transported materials between our lab and the Northeastern team’s lab in sealed containment to prevent release.
Safety in Design
Since we were working on a prototype with possible real-life applications, we considered safety when making crucial decisions about important aspects of our design. iGEM suggests that teams consider the following questions when designing their projects:
- Our product is intended to be used as a plastic-mapping device for parties concerned with the distribution of plastic in the ocean. Organisations that we reached out to when considering our design (need notes from outreach)
Who will use your product? What opinions do these people have about your project?
- Because our prototype is envisioned to be used in the ocean, we have come up with a bioreactor design that ensures the engineered microbes act as a closed system that is not released into the ocean environment.
Where will your product be used? On a farm, in a factory, inside human bodies, in the ocean?
- Direct benefits of a successful and efficient plastic-sensing system, such as Plastiback will be felt by researchers looking to map the distribution of plastics in the ocean. This could really affect how well the effects of plastic pollution are neutralized. The device promises benefits to the greater public through improvement of our environmental systems.
- As part of the prototype stage of our design, we are considering the environmental impact of the product in the oceans. Future directions include design solutions to the following important questions:
- How do we prevent small animals from getting trapped in the device?
- Will the device stay afloat and be easy to retrieve from the ocean?
If your product is successful, who will receive benefits and who will be harmed?
- At the end of the object’s life cycle, it will be retrieved, sterilized, and reused. Collected debris will go to appropriate waste management systems.
What happens when it's all used up? Will it be sterilized, discarded, or recycled?
- Sources:
- Conversations to have:
- Patrick Ulrich (pulrich@seas.harvard.edu)
- 5gyres: http://www.5gyres.org/publications/
- http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2012/02/trouble-afloat-ocean-plastics
