Safety Concerns with Mo-BASE

Our platform, Mo-BASE, is designed to assist researchers in analyzing single-cell RNA sequences safely. Users can upload raw scRNA-seq data to our platform, and our well-established pipeline handles the analysis, providing comprehensive insights without requiring any lab-based experiments. This guarantees that Mo-BASE poses no risks in a laboratory environment.

Biosafety Measures and Risk Management

Even though Mo-BASE is a software platform without direct involvement in wet-lab experiments, our team has considered the broader context of biosafety in synthetic biology.

Suicide Switch Implementation: To ensure safe and controlled synthetic biology applications, our team has researched and evaluated various “kill switch” mechanisms that can be used in engineered organisms to prevent potential environmental or human impact in case of accidental release.

We have also incorporated ethical considerations by ensuring all software tools comply with open-source software guidelines and prioritize user safety, both digitally and in application.

Collaborations and Contributions to Biosecurity

This summer, we held an online roundtable discussion with other software teams in China, sharing experiences and safety protocols. In this session, we explored biosecurity concerns and discussed best practices for maintaining a secure software platform.

Additionally, our team participated in the preparation of the white paper “Biology Safety with Artificial Intelligence”, a collaborative effort spearheaded by XJTLU-Software and JLU-NBBMS. This paper outlines the current challenges and ethical considerations in the field, proposing solutions that promote safe synthetic biology practices on a global scale.

Biosafety with AI Whitepaper Signing CCiC2024

Q&A

Q1: Does Mo-BASE pose any risks in laboratory settings?

No, Mo-BASE operates entirely on computers, and its design does not require any laboratory work. Hence, there are no risks associated with laboratory activities.

Q2: Is Mo-BASE harmful to the user's personal computer?

Mo-BASE operates safely on personal computers. Users upload their single-cell RNA sequences for analysis, and all processing occurs on our secure server. There is no risk to users' personal computers.

Q3: Does Mo-BASE infringe on any software copyrights?

No, all software packages used are open-source, and we have obtained the necessary permissions from the developers. There is no risk of copyright infringement.

Q4: Does Mo-BASE harm humans or the environment?

As a purely software-based platform, Mo-BASE does not pose any harm to human health or the environment. Our team also follows strict guidelines for biosecurity and safety in our research practices.

Q5: Does Mo-BASE threaten user privacy?

Mo-BASE does not collect any personal information from users. Data uploaded is strictly for analysis purposes, and no personal information is gathered or shared.