'I would give all my fame for a pot of ale, and safety'
IISER Pune India iGEM
Biosafety and disposal of biohazardous waste are matters of utmost importance. We designed our project keeping in mind the biohazardous nature of our genetically engineered bacteria. From simple measures like lab safety lectures and quizzes to modifying our project, we have taken utmost care to address this issue
Our original project design has an entire module dedicated to addressing biosafety concerns.We have, in our design, tried to incorporate a quorum sensing based termination module that will either stop the cells from growing further, or lyse them altogether.The link to a comprehensive discussion about the design and progress of our termination module is given below:
Here are some images of the safety appartus in our iGEM lab.
We attended a lecture regarding lab safety given by our P, Dr. Chaitanya Athale and also attempted a quiz about the same
We also added another biosafety module to our project which will ensure that our bacteria, IF they escape, will not be able to survive in the wild.
We also designed a prototype of the device that our genetic device would be used in.
This design is based on modifying a standard Tarsons 50ml falcon tube. The device prototype is designed in such a way that it ensures the physical containment of the construct. It is similar to a 50mL falcon tube with a one-way lock which ensures that the device cannot be opened once it is capped tightly. This device will contain the phasmids that can infect Mycobacterium and dispense the gene circuits into them along with middle brook media containing IPTG and Arabinose, all of which is separated from the exterior by an insoluble membrane. After adding the pathological sample into the device, a small tube will be added to the device to pierce the membrane on closing the cap. This ensures the mixing of the media in the device with the pathological sample.A computer-generated design of the prototype is ready. Here is a picture of the final expected product:
