<p> Science innovation comes from the intersection of practical and theoretical application. Scientists have to consider the ethical implications of their work when solving the issues of today. <br> <br>
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The 2017 NU iGEM team made safety a priority throughout the experience and considered ethics, public safety, and risks. </p>
<p style="font-family: josefin-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px> During the preliminary project design steps, we received extensive safety training. In addition to iGEM training as mandated by the boot camps, all members of the team completed Northwestern's own lab safety module, NSIS. We also received feedback from our professors and graduate student advisers on safety concerns throughout the course of the summer. Many concerns arise when dealing with packaging genome editing proteins in bacterial vesicles. </p>
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<h1 class="w3-center" style="font-family: aladin, sans-serif;"> Off target effects </h1>
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<p style="font-family: josefin-sans, sans-serif; font-size: 22px> Off target effects always remain a possibility when it comes to gene editing. Cleaving off unintended DNA could lead to fatal results for a cell. However, our choice of OMVs as a delivery system offers safety checks as an OMV will only be accepted by a bacterial cell. OMV delivery is also advantageous over viral delivery because it allows for transportation of a whole protein; thus the protein is not incorporated in the host cell genome which minimizes off target effects. Effective design of gRNA (guide RNA) will also minimize off target effects.
