[Lhs-biohacking] Safety, regulations and UK
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Tommaso Vannocci
Aug 21, 2012, 6:00:18 AM8/21/12
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Hi there,
just checking the regulations for the use of E. coli in the lab. More precisely about producing competent cells.
I found from the university of Reading a guideline for "the safety in the school lab".
It's mainly about GMO but check it out:
read carefully the green-blue box in the middle, it seems that we could in theory work, for example, with GFP transformations...
If we want the complete guidelines and regulations we should buy this:
that, from what I understand, is the official regulation (the bastards won't give it for free).
The bottom line seems to be that if we don't modify E. coli (making them competent should not be considered "modifying") we can actually work with it without notifying anyone. Obviously, unless schools are a special case: we are not one therefore legal requirement could be different.
Tom
Tommaso Vannocci
Aug 21, 2012, 6:09:26 AM8/21/12
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This instead is the website from the Health and Safety Executive:
much more difficult to understand what they want... probably they did it on purpose :P
This one instead is the "Law", a simplified guideline from the same website. Note the bullet points, expecially the one about notification of Class 1 etc.
Tommaso Vannocci
Aug 21, 2012, 6:17:30 AM8/21/12
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All that stuff is more or less the same as our page:
modification in class 1
That seems to be one of the first pages google suggests when searching for "Class1 lab regulations" :P
If I get it right we should notify the gov when "the first activity to be carried out in those premises is an activity involving genetic modification in class 1"
Making competent cells is not a class 1 modification
modification in class 1
Tommaso Vannocci
Aug 21, 2012, 6:24:29 AM8/21/12
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This is my last one, I promise...
for more info (and if you could also help me with legalese) go to pag 21:
Tom
Nicholas FitzRoy-Dale
Aug 21, 2012, 7:23:50 AM8/21/12
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Will we be doing something like this, i.e. chemically induced competence?
If so, we don't appear to be doing anything which is an example of a technique constituting genetic modification:
a) recombinant nucleic acid techniques involving […] the insertion of nucleic acid molecules, produced by whatever means outside an organism […]
b) techniques involving the direct introduction into an organism of heritable genetic material prepared outside the organism […]
c) cell fusion or hybridization where live cells with new combinations of genetic material are formed through the fusion of two or more cells by means of methods that do not occur naturally.
As I understand it, we:
a) Don't introduce any nucleic acid molecules produced outside the organism
b) Don't introduce any heritable genetic material prepared outside the organism, and
c) Don't fuse cells in a non-natural way to produce new cells to produce cells with new combinations of genetic material.
What we will be doing is making the cells more likely to take up DNA (read: nucleic acids, heritable material) from their environment -- by putting holes in their cell walls.. But that is not genetic modification under these rules for two reasons: we are not inserting DNA (nor are we providing DNA for them to take up, which could be considered "insertion"), and we are not fusing cells in any way at all (natural or not).
I'm confused by Wikipedia though, which says that induced competence is transient (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Natural_competence). When we make our competent cells, how long will they remain competent? Until they die, or for a or shorter time?
N
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Tommaso Vannocci
Aug 21, 2012, 7:30:21 AM8/21/12
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Well, it depends how you store the cells:
until they are in the freezer and you use them straight away for a transformation they'll be competent for a long time.
If you pick them out of the fridge and start to grow them without previous transformation they'll become normal Ecoli, i.e. they'll loose the super power of competency
Funkenstein
Aug 21, 2012, 7:41:45 AM8/21/12
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Tommaso Vannocci
Aug 21, 2012, 7:46:54 AM8/21/12
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The bastards are not so bastards... nicer than I thought.
only the printed form is sold
Apologies to all the involved bastards
Mark Steward
Aug 21, 2012, 8:05:29 AM8/21/12
to London Hackspace Biohacking Group
HSE are anything but bastards. They're very level-headed and
pragmatic. Might even be worth emailing them if you need any
clarification.
Mark
pragmatic. Might even be worth emailing them if you need any
clarification.
Mark
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