NAU-iGEM

Safety

As Theodor Reik (Sigmund Freud disciple) said: “In science, like in all life fields, a slogan is imposed: safety first”. Nowadays, safety is an essential requirement when creating new devices which humans will use, and Printeria is not different.

Overview

Advances in the biological life sciences and biotechnology hold great promise for our future, but these same technologies can also possess the capacity to be used in ways that harm us. It is vital that scientific research is being carried out safely to protect those who work in the lab as well as wider communities.

Laboratory Safety

Before starting our wet lab work: We received general laboratory safety and safety training: showing us the location of safe showers, eyewashes, spills and hydrants, and emergency evacuation routes. Besides, we have received guidance on appropriate waste sorting, autoclaving and hazardous chemical waste programs.

When working in the laboratory: Before we enter the laboratory, we must first put on the lab clothes, gloves, and masks. We are not allowed to eat or drink in the laboratory, and we are not allowed to wear slippers. UV-resistant laboratory goggles must be worn when experimenting with harmful UV rays. In addition, we also have strict regulations on the treatment of experimental waste. All contaminated waste must be disinfected before it can be disposed of. For waste drugs, they are managed by the college.

Staff requirements

The entire wet lab members previously worked in a lab with a biosafety level of 1 or 2. Every member entering the laboratory must pass the biosafety and biosecurity exams. Persons who do not comply with laboratory rules will lose their eligibility for experimentation immediately. Most importantly, adequate sleep should be maintained before the experiment.

Hardware requirements

Air conditioning, professional equipment, and other equipment are regularly inspected, repaired and replaced. We must fill in the registration form before and after using the instrument.

Professional guidance

When dealing with new instruments or equipment, the laboratory safety officer (responsible person) demonstrates the correct use and provides supervision to ensure safe and proper execution. In addition, our PIs and instructors will check regularly to correct our mistakes in time.

Specific Laboratory Safety

Our bacteria will be engineered to interact with Plasmodium in the mosquito. However, our current experiment, only involves the construction of engineered bacteria in the culture medium and the verification of the secretion and cleavage effect, so there is no need to use Plasmodium or mosquitoes, but only Serratia.

Although S. marcescens is a kind of conditional pathogenic bacteria，but we convinced HQ that we have achieved operational safety through our safety form, under the guidance from HQ and our PIs, we did：

1.All operations in contact with S. marcescens are carried out in a biosafety cabinet.
2.Strict adherence to aseptic operation, disinfect the laboratory before and after the experiment.
3.The strain S. marcescens is kept by specially assigned person, and has a special storage box.
4. S. marcescens uses a separate incubator and shaker.
5.The medium and instruments that have been exposed to S. marcescens are autoclaved.
Professor Wang, one of our PIs, is one of the researchers who discovered Serratia sp. in mosquitoes. All experiments related to S. marcescens will be conducted under the guidance of the P2 laboratory