Team:SYSU-MEDICINE/Safety

Safety
Overview

 SYSU-MEDICINE is trying to reinforce the homing ability of hMSCs toward the inflamed tissue by constructing the plasmids with the chemokine receptors and locate them with fluorescence. In addition, we design a switch to kill themselves when they differentiate into cells of other types. We spared no effort to achieve the safety control.

Safety Project Design

Parts Selection

 SYSU-MEDICINE is trying to reinforce the homing ability of hMSCs toward the inflamed tissue by constructing the plasmids with the chemokine receptors and locate them with fluorescence. In addition, we design a switch to kill themselves when they differentiate into cells of other types. We spared no effort to achieve the safety control.

MSCs Selection

 Selecting mesenchymal stem cells that will not damage the hosts. We have experiments on mesenchymal stem cells from Homo sapiens. Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) have great competence in proliferation without tumorigenicity. In suitable conditions, MSCs can differentiate into adipocytes, chondroblasts osteoblasts, and so on. In addition, MSCs carry out immunomodulatory capability by secreting the cytokines and cell-cell interaction to inhibit the proliferation and function of the T cells. The immunological rejection in mesenchymal stem cells is limited so that it can be used to heterograft. With these advantages, so safe are MSCs that they have been applied in the laboratory research and clinical trials.

Release Issue

 Our project will not release any genetically modified organisms, or the products during the iGEM competition. To demonstrate the ability of our engineered MSCs in vivo, our project is used in mice only during iGEM competition. We will not release or deploy any genetically modified organisms, or the products of genetically modified organisms, outside the lab.

Safety Project Design

In order to reach the requirement of the iGEM regulations and safety policies in Sun Yat-sen University, any dangerous experiments are forbidden in our daily lab work. Although mesenchymal stem cells from Homo sapiens are relatively safe, we treat them scrupulously to avoid any damage to humans or the environment.