Safety
Overview
Our project's safety was and will always be a main priority! The motto "Safe lab analyst is the best analyst" has encouraged us to develop a solid set of laboratory safety guidelines to ensure the smooth operation of our project and the health and safety of all members.
Safe Project Design
Before starting the project, a risk assessment was carried out. We gathered a wide range of data to evaluate the risks associated with our laboratory experiments. Furthermore, because risk can never be completely eliminated, we adopted risk control measures. As a result, assessing whether the risks are acceptable, controlled, or unacceptable is an important aspect of the risk assessment process1.
In addition to laboratory activity, we performed social science research. We were able to interview farmers, experts in the field of agriculture and the general public about their perspectives on Precision Agriculture and the application of the PAGGAIA project by distributing surveys. We ensured that our method of operation complied with the Research Ethics Committee of the University of Patras as we used personal data for research purposes2.
Training
The training session was conducted with our Primary Investigator (PI) giving us a tour of the lab. Afterwards we learned how to use the lab's various equipment. All team members who participated in experiments trained extensively from our team's Instructors to master all of the safety regulations regarding the laboratory and the experiments that would follow. Risk awareness, health surveillance, emergency procedures in the event of a fire or chemical exposure and the positioning of fire extinguishers were all addressed.
Safe Laboratory Practices
Personal safety equipment, such as long sleeve shirts, long trouser legs, white lab coats, gloves and safety goggles was mandatory for the team members, who were supervised by at least one of the instructors in the laboratory.
Organisms
For the purposes of our project, we have used certain strains of Bacillus subtilis, Bacillus mojavensis, Bacillus amyloliquefaciens and Bacillus thuringiensis, which are permitted in iGEM. These microorganisms present low risk for human safety and do not cause disease in healthy adult humans1.
Biocontainment Safety
Genetically modified organisms (GMOs) are living organisms whose genome has been engineered in the laboratory in order to favour the expression of desired physiological traits or the generation of desired biological products3.
The introduction of GMOs is always a risk! You won't know if your GMO is safe for humans or the environment until you conduct extensive testing.
Scientists can use physical and chemical methods to keep these organisms or their recombinant genetic material from escaping into the environment. Performing experimental research in special rooms, such as cleanrooms or sterile benches, can improve quality standards and limit the danger of a GMO escaping the facility. To ensure the containment of the bacteria from the environment, we could implement our bacterial interface with a kill-switch. A kill-switch is something that tells a bacterium whether to live or die, depending on specific environmental conditions4. With the rapid development of Synthetic Biology, these switches are of many kinds and have been increasingly used in recent years. They mainly work by introducing in the bacterial gene constructs that block important genes or express toxins when exposed to a specific environmental condition4.
References
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World Health Organization, Laboratory Biosafety Manual
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Research Ethics Committee, University of Patras, Ethics Self Assessment Guide
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Diaz, J. M. and Fridovich-Keil, . Judith L. (Invalid Date). genetically modified organism. Encyclopedia Britannica.
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Arnolds, K. L., Dahlin, L. R., Ding, L., Wu, C., Yu, J., Xiong, W., Zuniga, C., Suzuki, Y., Zengler, K., Linger, J. G., & Guarnieri, M. T. (2021). Biotechnology for secure biocontainment designs in an emerging bioeconomy. Current opinion in biotechnology, 71, 25-31.