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− | <div class="hero-text"> | + | <div class="hero-text2"> |
| <h1>Silver Human Practices</h1> | | <h1>Silver Human Practices</h1> |
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− | <h2>Product Design and Possible Kill Switches</h2> | + | <h2>Product Design </h2> |
− | <p>Our team decided a kill switch would make our project safe for use. <i>E. coli</i> should not be introduced into a biosystem if it cannot be controlled. An out of control bacteria could mutate into a harmful bacteria, or hurt the microbiome and ecosystem already there. If we had a kill switch for our project, we could not only keep the bacteria contained in our cellulose matrix with the dCDB (double cellulose binding domain) but also make sure the bacteria does not grow out of control. Too many bacteria might cause the cellulose to be overwhelmed and let a few bacterium float away. This could eventually be harmful if the bacterium mutated or takes away nutrients the natural bacteria needs. The kill switch would allow our bacteria to not grow over a certain population so that we do not have any the will not bind to the cellulose and keep it contained. We could also create a kind of kill switch where our cellulose provides a synthetic nutrient that the bacteria need to survive. If the bacteria fall off of the cellulose, it will not find the nutrient in nature and will then die and not affect the microbiome. We could eventually work with both ideas and put them together in a continuation project to create a very safe, contained probiotic that people can ingest or place into a water sample without fear of the bacteria harming any people, animals, microbiome or ecosystem. | + | <p>Many concerns exist with genetically modified organisms mutating and infecting the human body or initiating an outbreak in the environment. Our part is designed in such a way that the bacteria will bind to and remain inside a cellulose pellicle. This way, in the unlikely situation of the microbe mutating, it will stay contained inside this cellulose pellicle and not be able to infect the human body or spread into the environment. |
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| <h2>Safety</h2> | | <h2>Safety</h2> |
− | <p> The microbe would have to be further modified in order to ensure total safety. When the research is continued, a kill switch would be incorporated into the microbe in order to ensure that the microbe cannot escape into any environment and mutate. However, several precautions are already incorporated into the engineered microbe. The strain of <i>E. coli</i> intended for use as the carrier of the modified plasmids is harmless to humans. Moreover, both of the altered plasmids contain antibiotic resistance, resulting in the expulsion | + | <p>Because of the csgA-dCBD part (BBa_k2522000), the engineered microbe will be safe to ingest as it will be encapsulated in cellulose. This encasement will permit the microbe to move through the GI tract or remain in water without the possibility of infection. If the microbe should mutate, it would remain contained within the cellulose in order to keep the person ingesting the microbe safe from infection.</p> |
− | The plasmids also have antibiotic resistance which means that our edited plasmid would be kicked out, which would make the bacteria nearly worthless as it would no longer have any of the capabilities that we edited into it.
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| <h2>Risk Assessment </h2> | | <h2>Risk Assessment </h2> |
− | <p>Due to the bacteria being a probiotic, there is no risk of the bacteria infecting the person that ingested the organism. However there is a possibility of the organism mutating, but the organism will be encapsulated inside a cellulose pellicle to ensure that if it does mutate, the bacteria will be contained and will be unable to infect the person or to spread throughout the GI tract. </p> | + | <p>There is a possibility of the organism mutating, but the organism will be encapsulated inside a cellulose pellicle to ensure that if it does mutate, the bacteria will be contained and will be unable to infect the person or to spread throughout the GI tract. </p> |
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