Team:Botchan Lab Tokyo/Human Practices
Integrated human practice
In order to use modified organisms you have to handle with various laws such as The Cartagena Protocol. The Cartagena Protocol on Biosafety to the Convention on Biological Diversity is an international agreement which aims to ensure the safe handling, transport, and use of living modified organisms. Our project especially relates to the regulation because we want to use modified microorganisms to human body in future tasks. After objective E.coli supplement made and taken in to the human body, some will not be fixed to the intestine and excreted from body to the environment. At that time, there is a risk of spreading out of modified microorganisms. To solve the problem, we visited expert in the field. Takeshi Fuji, the director of division of plant and microbial sciences of National Agriculture and Food Research Organization, NARO. Takeshi Fuji provided us with practical advises to the problem from his experiences. In his past research, he also aimed to suppress the spreading of modified microorganisms. He tried to make a bacterium that has set to die automatically after accomplishing its purpose. To be more specific, he built a bacterium that has a system of “suicide gene”, causing the bacterium to kill itself due to temperature change or reduction in the concentration of chlorinated aromatic compound such as poly chlorinated biphenyl. He suggested us with this gene, and at the same time he explained his bitter story. Although he constructed the pathway of suicide gene, resistant bacteria always appeared and could not suppress the spreading completely. Also he told us it is difficult to reverse negative opinions or images to use modified microorganisms outside lab or to human body. Then he explained us the importance of publicity activities such as making a booklet, give a lecture to the general public to know about gene recombination. In short, it is important to make an appeal how the technology improves our lives. Therefore, throughout the year, we have held experiment events several times for people in various ages. We have been teaching about synthetic biology and our project to contribute to the spread of correct knowledge.
