Safety has always been a top priority in our team. Our project deals with a fungi, Fusarium solani , which is a well-known plant pathogen. The strain we worked on was an endophytic strain obtained from MTCC and is non-pathogenic. It is a biosafety level 1 organism. This was confirmed by MTCC. The correspondance is attached .
We received training to work with F. solani . This was provided by members of the lab of Professor Smita Srivatsava. We worked in a biosafety level 1 laboratory which had basic facilities like a laminar flow hood, a shaking incubator, a 4 ̊C fridge, a -20 ̊C freezer, a microwave oven, a centrifuge, a vortex, scales, and laboratory reagents. We have always worked with the fungus under a sterile laminar hood. This was especially important considering that accidental exposure of the spores could cause contamination in adjacent labs that work on plants, etc.
Basic safety norms such as wearing gloves and a mask while performing all experiments, washing hands before exiting the lab, no food in the lab was followed. All waste generated was disposed of in compliance with the Bio-Medical Waste Management Rules - 2016, issued by the Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change and was monitored by the Tamil Nadu State Pollution Control Board.
Our project was approved by the Institute Biosafety Committee (IBSC) and stands as proof of our compliance with the above-mentioned safety measures.
