Safety Introduction

The Cartagena Protocol is a treaty that stipulates measures to prevent the possible negative effects of genetically modified organisms on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity. According to the protocol, the Cartagena Act (Act on the Conservation and Sustainable Use of Biological Diversity through Regulations on the Use of Living Modified Organisms) was acted in Japan.[1] Since our iGEM project involves the creation of genetically modified organisms, the experiment was conducted in compliance with "Kyushu University's Procedures for Genetic Recombination Experiments", the regulations on handling synthetic organisms established by Kyushu University based on the Cartagena Act of Japan.[2]

Lab Safety

Microorganisms

We used the non-pathogenic BL21 strain in the experiments, which is selected as the Risk Group (RG1). Since RG1 organisms do not cause disease in healthy adult humans[3], we ensure that it poses a minimal health risk if taken out of the laboratory.

Lab Practice

In order to minimize the risk of accidents during the experiments, access to the laboratory was restricted only to the members of the Wet Team. In addition, all members of the Wet Team who engaged in the experiments attended a safety training course for whom conduct gene-editing related experiments as stipulated by our university.

The Wet team conducted the experiments following the university's regulations for experiments dealing with synthetic organisms ("Kyushu University's Procedures for Genetic Recombination Experiments"), for instance, proper equipment handling, handling of hazardous materials and synthetic organisms, and waste disposal methods.

Reference

1. Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry and Fisheries, Japan, What is Cartagena Act, https://www.maff.go.jp/j/syouan/nouan/carta/about/
2. Kyushu University, Genetic recombination experiment in Kyushu University, http://ura.kyushu-u.ac.jp/dna/
3. iGEM 2022, Risk Groups, https://responsibility.igem.org/guidance/risk-groups