Our project is designed to attain minimal risk environmentally and pathogenically.
What are the biological risks?
- All organisms and parts utilized in East Tennessee State University's iGEM team's project is covered by iGEM's White List without exception.
- Our project involves the engineering of the Escherichia coli K12 strain DH5-alpha.
What are the Chemical risks?
- No hazardous chemicals will be used in this research project.
What are the physical risks?
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The lab space utilized has multiple open benches, a biosafety cabinet with an inspection date within the last year, a contained and specialized greenhouse with appropriate biohazard disposals, and a chemical fume hood.
What are the security risks?
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All of the genetic parts within our project are preexisting within the Registry, and none of our individual parts harbor potential to present any opposable hazards.
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All of our DNA will be ordered from a company which is a current member of the International Gene Synthesis Consortium.
This project was made with safety in mind
No risks were encounterd within this project
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K12 strains such as DH-alpha are considered a fully non-pathogenic chassis because of their inability to perform the synthesis of the O antigen on their lipopolysaccharide, inhibiting its establishment in the human gastrointestinal system.
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The bacterial strains we are using are commercial and generally safe, as is our model organism, Arabidopsis thaliana, and our target organism, Glycine max.
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Hazardous reagents and chemicals are avoided in our procedures of cloning and plant transformation, eliminating any risk of harm to our team or any organism.
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The future prospects do not encompass the release of the product beyond agricultural containment, and are unable to spread environmentally.
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There is no risk of any bad outcome, as our wet lab holds strict procedures about autoclaving post bacteria and bacterial waste, growing plants within controlled chambers, preventing cross-pollination by utilizing our self-pollinating model organism Arabidopsis thaliana, and sterilization of recombinant DNA or any materials labeled biohazardous.