Team:SZU-China/Safety
Safety
Nip the unsafe in the bud.
--The Book of Changes
Safety is extremely vital in research since DANGER lies everywhere. Hence, strict experimental operation and standardized experimental spaces are essential to ensure the individual, societal and natural safety. SZU-China this year team has implemented the following safety procedures below. Our completed safety form has been submitted and approved (click Safety form for more information).
Personal safety
Equipment safety
Chemical safety
Building safety
Waste safety
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Being equipped with lab coats, protective goggles and disposable gloves
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Tying back the long hair
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Following the safety rules of lab all the time (Fig. 1)
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Taking the appropriate protective measures when working with harmful materials, such as UV-light and hazardous chemicals
Fig.1 Safety Rules of Lab
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Operating emergency showers and eyewash properly, as well as other emergency equipment including fire blanket, extinguisher, and the panic button
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Checking if the equipment works properly and never using the obsolete or unsafe equipment
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Following the manual of the equipment
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Classifying the different chemicals and storing them via appropriate storage methods in a proper place
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Never using the extreme poisonous chemicals
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Using the fume hood to avoid the leakage of volatile toxic gases
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Remembering the location of fire escapes, planning the fire evacuation and having the contact information of first aid officers
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Never staying in the lab alone
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Inactivating all the experimental organism before releasing them outside
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Sorting the waste according to the waste disposal rules and disposing them in an appropriate way
Our project utilizes three organisms this year: two plants (Arabidopsis thaliana& Mikania micrantha) and one Escherichia coli strain (HT115(DE3)).
RNAi-based herbicide is much safer than any other chemical or biological technology. There are three major reasons as follows. First, the RNA interference molecules within the plant, unlike transgenic technique, will not cause permanent changes in the gene expression. Second, RNA molecules are not so stable as other chemicals and are easily degraded, so they are eco-friendly(for more information, see the Stability ). Third, this kind of herbicide can specifically target and silence the essential genes of Mikania micrantha (M. micrantha) and do no harm to other plants
Arabidopsis thaliana is a model plant that has been well studied by scientists all over the world, while Nicotiana tabacum L. is a common experimental plant. In order to test whether our RNAi herbicide can only kill M. micrantha and is harmless to other plants, the wild type Arabidopsis (Columbia) and Nicotiana tabacum L. are planted in our growth room and subject to RNAi herbicide treatment. The tested plants will never be released outside before we inactivate them.
Mikania micrantha can be found everywhere in our city (Shenzhen, China). Our experimental plants are collected from the Lihu campus of Shenzhen University. This kind of invasive weed can spread to other regions and cause significant damage to many ecosystems, if it is released without any control. Hence, we will always keep them in our specific, closed culture room. To find more treatments on the experimental M. micrantha, click here to see our Check-in form.
Our project involves basic genetic operation on the Escherichia coli (E. coli) strain (HT115(DE3)), which is classified as the Risk 1 Group with low potential risk according to China CDC , In our wet lab, all the upstream genetic engineering operations, such as transformation, vector expression and protein measurement, are strictly obeyed the regulations and supervised by teachers or elder students.
In order to cut the costs on extracting RNAi molecules from the E. coli, we design a self-cracking mechanism by which the plasma membrane of E. coli can be poked or decomposed, resulting in the release of inclusion, so that we can get the RNAi molecules transcribed by E. coli (click Design to see more). Meanwhile, the E. coli is dead and cannot pose any threat on other organisms any more, which ensure the safety (Fig.2, 3).
Fig.2 Regulation of Trp Attenuator on R-Bodies
Fig.3 Regulation of pH on R-Bodies
All of us have undergone basic lab safety training from our experimental courses of our university. In addition, our instructors spend one week to ensure that we have obtained enough theoretical knowledges. Moreover, our team leaders, who participated in 2018 iGEM, teach us a series of experiments to make sure that we get enough practical experiences. There are three main guidelines:
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Hardware: There should be essential experimental equipments that function normally.
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People: All the people performing experiments should be trained strictly.
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Software: Complete regulation systems should be set up.
The three guidelines are supplementary to each other, and also help us achieve two essential goals.
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Make sure that all the people performing experiments will not be infected.
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Make sure that the environment will not be polluted..
Team members who violate safety rules are subject to the supervision and reminder from the experimental staff until they are believed to be able to perform the experiment individually without supervision any more. In the situation of multiple infractions or ignoring the safety rules, the member will be asked to write a critical self-review, get training again and will not be allowed to do any experiments for one month.
