Fire protection in genetic engineering plants. Protection incendie dans les laboratoires de génétique

Abstract
There is a conflict between the following two safety aspects of genetic engineering plants. On the one hand, such a plant has to be built as a closed system, to avoid a release of genetically manipulated organisms. On the other hand, people must be able to flee the plant and to be rescued quickly in case of fire. Our paper summarizes current means to solve this problem. In our opinion, the technical safety measures and legal regulations need to be improved. Furthermore, they should be harmonized amongst the German federal states. It would be helpful in practice to prepare a guideline for performance based codes for such plants which could be used as a reference guide for planners and authorities. Such a general guideline is preferable to strictly defined requirements for all possible plants, since compulsory rules might not always be appropriate for individual plants.