Safety regulations in Germany
In Germany we deal with a strict law governing genetic engineering ("Gesetz zur Regelung der Gentechnik" (GenTG)), which raises the general ethical question of whether it should be allowed to modify other organisms for our benefit. Since we work with well known single cell microorganisms, we are convinced that ethical questions regarding our project are negligible. Experiments with animals were not carried out in our project. However, working with genetically modified organisms (GMOs) can pose risks, such as the unintended release of GMOs into non-GMO facilities and the horizontal or vertical transfer of genetic material. Other risks could include antibiotic resistance, which is used in our laboratory as a selection marker. There is also the risk of the expression of unintended proteins/polypeptides/RNA which features are unpredictable. The strains we work with all belong to the safety level one (S1). Our project deals with RG1 organisms, which are not dangerous or pathogenic and therefore not harmful to humans, animals or plants. The organisms are common laboratory strains and depend on specific conditions so that they are not likely to survive in the environment where these controlled conditions are absent.
In the EU, the proper use of so-called genomediting is a hotly debated issue. On 25 July 2018, the European Court of Justice defined genetic engineering. This ruling shows that it is time for science to proactively defend its own underlying worldview. Therefore, factual arguments based on data and analysis should continue to be the basis for societal decisions.
Laboratory safety comes first
Before we could start our work in the laboratory, we received a safety briefing from the safety manager of the laboratories we used. In the laboratories we work according to the laboratory rules of the institute and follow all security precautions very seriously. Working with genetically modified organisms can lead to ethical discussions that are negligible for application in our project. By applying and complying with the German Genetic Engineering Law (Deutsches Gentechnikgesetz, Article 1 G 2121-60-1 of 20 June 1990 I 1080 (GenTG)), which covers work with GMOs in closed GMO facilities, hygiene routines such as disinfection and hand washing, separate waste organisation and documentation of each genetically modified organism, we minimise the risks mentioned above. For our experiments, we use non-pathogenic organisms (S1), to eliminate the risk of harming someone who gets in contact with them. The work with the genetically modified organisms is carried out under a safety cabinet to prevent unintended release of these organisms. Our waste containing the modified microorganisms is stored separately in S1 waste containers and will be sterilized by autoclaving before it gets disposed of.
| Species Name | Strain | Genotype | Risk Group | Disease Risk | Source |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| E. coli | MACH1 | str. W ΔrecA1398 endA1 fhuA Φ80Δ(lac)M15 Δ(lac)X74 hsdR(rK–mK+) | 1 | No | ThermoFisher |
| E. coli | DH5a | fhuA2 lac(del)U169 phoA glnV44 Φ80' lacZ(del)M15 gyrA96 recA1 relA1 endA1 thi-1 hsdR17 | 1 | No | NEB |
| E. coli | BL21 (Rosetta) | E. coli str. B F– ompT gal dcm lon? hsdSB(rB–mB–) λ(DE3 [lacI lacUV5-T7p07 ind1 sam7 nin5] ) [malB+]K-12(λS) pLysSRARE[T7p20 ileX argU thrU tyrU glyT thrT argW metT leuW proL orip15A] (CmR) | 1 | No | NEB |
| A. radiobacter | GV3101 pPMP90 | C58 (rif R) Ti pMP90 (pTiC58DT-DNA) ( gentR) Nopaline | 1 | No | Gelvin SB. 2003 |
| A. thaliana | Col-0 | Wild Type | 1 | No | tair |