Overview
As an emerging technology, Synthetic Biology raises new technical and scientific challenges but also questions for ethics, biosafety, biosecurity and intellectual property.
As one of the stakeholder of Synthetic biology, our team lead a open-discussion at the Lab about these questions. You can find our work in the wiki in [Ethic part] or directly in [SynthEthics.pdf].
After these general purposes, we will now summarize questions/answers focused on biosafety.
=== Safety ===
==== Local biosafety overview ====
The work has been carried out in the laboratory of Molecular, Evolutive and Medical Genetics Unit (U571, also know as [[http://www.necker.fr/tamara/ TaMaRa's lab]]) of the French National Institute of Medical Research ([[http://www.inserm.fr/index.php INSERM]]) within the [[http://www.medecine.univ-paris5.fr Paris Descartes University's Medical faculty]]. Thus, the work was inspected both by the University's Safety officer (last surprise visit 18 Oct went smoothly with the only caveat being paper boxes on ther top shelf above the bench that needed to be removed...). More importantly, the biosafety officer of our unit followed our work.
Both institutions have their ethical committees though no specific issue concerning our project needed to be raised. Nonetheless, a thorough work was done throughout this period regarding general safety and ethical issues not only specific to our work (including declining other ideas of projects that might have had potential future hazard). This is detailed within the Ethics part of our wiki documentation. Click here for more [[https://2009.igem.org/Team:Paris/Ethics_overview#Ethics_:_Overview Ethics and Biosafety]]
==== Safety issues raise by our ideas ====
While brainstorming, some of our ideas raise safety issues.
'''Drug injection mediaded by a '''meningitis bacterial like'''
At one moment, we came with the idea to modify a bacteria with some genetics materials of Neisseria meningitidis in order to be able to deliver drugs directly in the human brain. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meningitis#Bacterial Meningitis bacterial]] can disrupt the blood-brain barrier, this disruption may increase the penetration of various substances (including antibiotics but also pathogen, toxin) into the brain.
'''The best chassis for Synthetic Biology'''
As we wanted to have a stable system, we wanted to use a resistant bacteria as a chassis. We though about using [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Deinococcus_radiodurans Deinococcus radiodurans]], an extremophilic bacterium, one of the most radioresistant organisms known.
risk assesment in synthetic biology
impcat de la modelisation
our role after iGEM competition
1. Would any of your project ideas raise safety issues in terms of:
* researcher safety,
* public safety, or
* environmental safety?
2. Is there a local biosafety group, committee, or review board at your institution?
3. What does your local biosafety group think about your project?
4. Do any of the new BioBrick parts that you made this year raise any safety issues?
* If yes, did you document these issues in the Registry?
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