Would petroleum products made by genetically engineered bacteria be safe?
Probably very safe. The usual way to make these things safe is to break a gene or two or more that makes a vital enzyme or vitamin. That makes all the bacteria effectively dead unless you supply the missing ingredients. For example you can break the genes that make vitamin C and K. Those are never found in the wild in the same place, so the bacteria can’t live anywhere in the real world. For extra safety you can break the genes that make it resistant to sunlight or air. Thousands of ways of hobbling these thingies so they don’t get out of control. You probably want to use several of these in combination just to be sure.
