Safety
Types of organisms used in our project and their potential risks
- Streptomyces olindensis DAUFPE 5622
- Escherichia coli DH5-alpha
As the main organisms used are non-pathogenic bacteria, or induce very mild symptoms, if these microorganisms are ingested, they do not pose any real risk to the environment, if correct disposal is carried out, or to the members of the team who carried out the experiments.
Biosecurity
Because the work as a whole was developed in laboratories on the premises of the University of São Paulo (USP), the biosafety standards pre-established by institutions, such as the Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICB) were respected, as well as the biosafety guidelines established by federal agencies in Brazil, such as CTNBio (Comissão Técnica Nacional de Biossegurança), such as appropriate hygiene measures and correct use of personal protective equipment (PPE).
It is also important to highlight that during the experiments, the biosafety level adopted was 1, due to the classification of the laboratories used. During our experiments, none of the compounds or tools used were high risk, and the genetic sequences, such as plasmids, were all produced by companies, through iGEM partnerships, or were provided through the laboratory itself or collaborators.
Ethics
Our study is solely related to the editing of bacteria, expression of compounds of interest and the use of computational techniques, such as genomic and protein analysis. Therefore, no approval from the ethics committee was required, as it did not involve vertebrate animals.