The laboratory we use is classified as Biosafety Level 1, which means that all the organisms we use for the experiment are not pathogens, and they should present a minimal potential hazard to the lab and environment. All biological wastes will be disinfected before disposal to ensure that no genetically modified organisms are disposed of in the environment.
In our laboratory, the safety of researchers is ensured. Eye washers/baths and personnel showers are placed in an easily accessible position, the fire alarm is installed, the fire extinguisher and blanket are equipped near the door, the vinyl floor and ceiling are inert, and the paint on the wall is easy to clean. There is also an observation board on the door to ensure that the risk of accidents or injuries when researchers enter and leave the laboratory is reduced.
We will ask our participants to read the safety and security rules and policies on the iGEM website. Also, Safety and Security training has been given to all students before any experiments. Instructions for experiments will be given to students beforehand. Advice and guidelines from the Faculty of Health Science of the University of Macau are provided. This allows the PI, Ms. Wai Man Cheong, who has been managing a laboratory in our school for decades, to oversee the iGEM team risk management procedures and receive suggestions from experts should it be outside their range of experience. Risk Assessment forms for individual procedures and guidelines for using chemicals were introduced to all students before the project lab experiment start. All experiments will be performed under instructions or supervision of instructors, technicians, professors, or teachers (all with appropriate higher education degrees).
According to Administrative Regulation No. 11/2020 of the Macao Special Administrative Region "Maximum Residue Limits of Pesticides in Food":
Article 2 Definitions
To apply the provisions of this Administrative Regulation, the following terms shall have the following meanings :
(a) "Pesticide" means any substance used in the production, storage, transport, distribution, or processing of foodstuffs for the control, killing, attraction, expulsion, or control of pests, or for the control of ectoparasites in animals, including substances intended for use as plant growth regulators, defoliants, desiccants, fruit thinning agents, or germination inhibitors, and substances used before and after harvest to prevent the deterioration of crops in the course of storage and transport and substances used before and after harvesting to prevent deterioration of crops during storage and transport, but excluding fertilizers, nutrients for plants and animals, food additives and veterinary drugs.
(b) "Pesticide residue": means any specific substance present in food as a result of the use of a pesticide, including pesticide derivatives of significant toxicological significance, such as pesticide transformation products, metabolites, reaction products, and impurities
(c) "Maximum residue limit": means the legal maximum concentration of a pesticide residue permitted to be present in or on the surface of food, expressed as milligrams of pesticide residue per kilogram of food (mg/kg)
(d) "Maximum Re-residue Limit": means the legal maximum concentration of a pesticide or contaminant of environmental origin permitted to be present in or on the surface of the food that is not used directly or indirectly on food but is present as a result of previous agricultural use and persists in the environment after prohibition, expressed as milligrams of pesticide residue per kilogram of food (mg/kg) expressed in milligrams per kilogram (mg/kg).
(e) "Definition of residue": means the pesticide residue combination of a pesticide, its derivatives, or related compounds used to determine the amount of pesticide residue.
According to the Administrative Regulation No. 11/2020 of the Macao Special Administrative Region "Maximum Residue Limits of Pesticides in Food", nutrients for plants and animals are excluded from pesticides.
The competent E.Coli BL21 used in our IGEM project is not considered one of the pesticides. Therefore, our project follows the law legitimately.
The guidelines {1} from the Macau government will help us to manage the risks. The rules of the Containment Level 1 lab will help in general to avoid and reduce risks.
Only disabled laboratory strains of Escherichia coli that are incapable of colonizing the mammalian intestine (Chart et al, 2001) will be used. Disabled strains of E. coli are also not expected to survive in the environment in competition with wild-type strains.
The DNA constructs transformed into the recipient strains will not offer any particular survival advantage in the wild or introduce harmful genes, or gene products. The vectors used are not transmissible, limiting the potential for horizontal gene transfer. Constructs may confer antibiotic resistance to strains.
In order to avoid the release of drug-resistance genes into the environment, all E. coli strains transformed with this structure and solid and liquid in contact with DNA, as well as structures carrying antibiotic resistance gene information, will be inactivated by autoclaving and then disposed of. Regarding the disposal of chemicals in our experiment, since no concentrated chemical will be used during our experiment, we will dispose of one chemical each time, and flush to drain with a large excess of water to ensure adequate dilution.