Safety

Chassis organisms

For the purpose of construction of the amlification circuit, we used E. coli DH5 α as our chassis organism. For testing the circuit in our final chassis organism of choice, we transformed the plasmids into B. subtilis. The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) classifies Bacillus subtilis as a GRAS (Generally Regarded As Safe) organism. Both these organisms are generally recognized as safe and can be used in BS1 laboratories without problems.

Safe Laboratory Practices

All our experimental work was carried out in DBT-ICT Center for Energy Biosciences, which boasts of state-of-the art equipment for facilitating Microbiological research. As a responsible team, we ensure that all safety regulations are complied with and our experimentation does not pose a risk to us and others around us.

Personal Protective Equipment

Appropriate PPE are used in the lab which include lab coats, closed shoes and safety glasses.

Ensuring a contamination Free Environment

Handling of bacteria is done in Laminar air flow units. This ensures a contamination free as well as a contained working environment.

Dealing with hazardous materials

Disposable Nitrile gloves are used to handle Ethidium Bromide (ETBr) - containing agarose gels since it is a known carcinogen. Used gels as well as EtBr contaminated pipette tips are put in labelled bags that are handed over to a contractor for disposal by incineration at a municipal facility. A UV-protective face shield with the protective barrier of a glass visor is used to view gels under the UV Transilluminator.

Disposal of waste containing bacterial cultures

Bacterial waste is discarded in plastic containers and autoclaved before disposal. This includes bacterial cultures and plates.

Safety regulation in our country on GMOs

While there are tremendous applications of synthetic biology which can benefit the society, risks associated with using such genetically modified organisms in the wild are significantly alarming. But risks are ubiquitous and unavoidable. Our modus operandi should be minimization of risks. One way to manage such risk is governmental oversight (Dhan Prakash, 2011). In India, there are 6 different committees which regulate the release of GMO into wild. The one with ultimate power to allow the release or not is GEAC (Genetic Engineering Approval Committee). No person can manufacture, transport, use, process or sell GMOs without the approval from GEAC. State, Institutional, District level committees,The Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RDAC) takes note of developments in biotechnology at national and international level and prepares suitable recommendations.