At Cornell iGEM, we understand the risks associated with our work and take all necessary precautions to minimize those risks. As a team, we take safety very seriously and a detailed description of our procedures can be found below. Our protocols are guided by the risk matrix, as we try to both minimize the likelihood of an incident as well as the severity of an incident. Our completed safety form can be found here.
Cornell iGEM is working to create a microcystin detection and remediation system to combat harmful algal blooms (HABs). For the detection component, we intend to use RNA aptamers to identify the toxins. We will make an automated boat containing a sampler to obtain water samples and to test for microcystins. For remediation, we plan to use a bioreactor containing E. coli with the mlr cassette to degrade the toxins. The E. coli will be encapsulated in alginate beads, and the bioreactor will be an open system that allows water to flow through.
Cornell University is located in Upstate New York near the Finger Lakes region where algal blooms are a common occurrence. However, our research taught us that some algal blooms are considered “harmful” due to the toxins released by the algae, which can prove detrimental to human health and marine life. During our brainstorming process, a few members of our team attended the Community Science Institute’s event, “Nutrients in the Watershed, Unusual Weather, and Harmful Algal Blooms: A Public Conversation” in Aurora, NY. At the event, we met with many researchers and community members who spoke about the impact that HABs has had on their communities, and we felt it would be a meaningful endeavor to pursue a potential solution using synthetic biology.