Team:DTU-Denmark/Human Practices
Human Practices
The creation of a library of promoters may not be very applicable in the everyday life of most people, but the library can certainly have a great impact on many people’s lives. In determining how our project is good for the world, we looked to the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
We have identified 5 main goals that our project contributes to. We call these our primary SDGs. Following this, we have further 2 goals that are affected by our efforts in the primary goals.
Regarding the organism
As described in the product, filamentous fungi are important producers in the biotechnological industry and they form the base of our project. We have chosen to work with Aspergillus niger as it is an important production organism, and the tools required to genetically engineer it already exists. We have used the specific strain ATCC1015 [1]. This Aspergillus strain is classified as Biosafety Level 1, which indicates means that it is safe to use and handle in the lab. In addition to this designation, we have performed a safety check-in, as spore-forming fungi are not directly in the whitelist.
Fermentation safety
During our project, we will be using larger-scale fermentations to verify our promoters. This introduces new challenges in safely handling our organism and the larger equipment. To the first point, Aspergillus niger, and many other filamentous fungi, the production of spores is dependent on external conditions of the fermentation.
