Safety
As a team, we took great strides to incorporate safety into each stage of the design, organization, and final completion of our iGEM project. Under the oversight of our advisors and regulations of our university, we completed in-depth safety trainings and complied to all iGEM safety guidelines prior to beginning hands-on lab work.
For an in-depth overview of our safety considerations, see our safety form and comprehensive parts spreadsheet below for more information.
Ethical Considerations
Any gene regulating system can be used to cause harm just as easily as it can be applied to solve serious world problems. By completing this in-depth categorization of the LACE system in mammalian cells, we will be increasing the public knowledge and resource-base of both iGEM and the Synthetic Biology community as a whole, leading to possible future misuses.
Starting with the iGEM community, we propose an addition to the BioBrick user agreement to minimize this risk. Furthermore, we consulted Mark Yarborough,an ethicist who focuses on issues in biomedical research, building public trust in the sciences, and educating researchers.
We developed guidelines for incorporating ethics into our own project as well as set up a framework for future iGEM and UC Davis BioInnovation Group teams with his help. A more detailed explanation can be found on our Human Practices page.
Parts and Project
In the development of our project, we intentionally selected non-human mammalian cell lines so as to avoid transitioning from a biosafety level 1 lab into a biosafety level 2 space. This choice enables our system to be applied within our student lab space and provides the ideal context in which to model the tools we wish to develop. Additionally, by removing this possible restriction, we hope our project will contribute to a mammalian toolkit that is more user-friendly and inclusive for broader distribution within iGEM.
Although human cell based experimentation would have a more direct connection to future biomedical applications, we propose that an in-depth characterization of our system in multiple mammalian cell lines (hamster and mouse) will provide a broader view on system efficiency under widely variable conditions. This provides vital background information for further research and emphasizes future applications in biomanufacturing.
Trainings and Facilities
The Molecular Prototyping and BioInnovation Lab at UC Davis is an undergrad run lab space overseen by lab manager, Andrew Yao, and professor Marc Facciotti. Their years of combined experience in research, education and iGEM advising have made them an important technical and safety resource for our team.
Our lab supervisor, representatives from the biosafety office, and Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC), the Environmental Health and Safety office (EH&S), conduct comprehensive risk assessments and routine lab inspections to ensure our lab space adheres to all safety standards.
All team members completed Biosafety level 2 online courses including training on lab fundamentals, waste management and minimization, and the proper technique and use of biosafety cabinets. In addition to our online coursework we completed hands-on in-lab trainings and walk throughs in accordance to our university, iGEM, and national safety standards prior to the beginning of lab work. See our Safety Form for more information about required safety trainings and lab certifications.