Team:Saint Joseph/Safety
General Lab Rules
We are working in GeneOn laboratory which is at TechnoPark. We don’t work with pathogens nor harmful substances but we still pay attention to the biosafety rules. Our lab instructor informed us with a presentation based on lab safety. Our main rules are:
- 1. Wearing lab coat.
- 2. Wearing gloves.
- 3. Sterilizing our hands with alcohol
- 4. Keeping our working benches clean.
- 5. Keeping our materials organized.
- 6. Holding agar plate well.
- 7. Preparing the mediums carefully.
- 8. Working in biosafety cabin while planting bacterias
- 9. Throwing used pipette tips into different trashes
- 10. Avoiding contamination while working with bacteria
- 11. Wearing indoor shoes
- 12. Wearing long sleeve clothes.
Microorganisms and chemicals that require your work to improve your experience:
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1. Microorganisms
During our project, we used e.coli DH5a and shuffle(NEB) strains. The strains we use are organisms designed for research and have no toxic effects. However, the working environment is sterilized after and before working with microorganisms and studied in the presence of fire. After we finished our study with microorganisms, the wastes were sterilized by autoclaving. The working environment was left to sterilize with ultraviolet light.
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2. Chemicals
During our studies, we worked with risky chemicals like ETBR, glacial acetic acid and interca paints. While working with these materials we make sure that we wear gloves, glasses and masks. We worked with harmful volatile chemicals in biosafety cabins. After we finished our studies, waste chemicals were delivered to the relevant chemical waste unit.
Safe Storage
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1. Storage of bacterial cultures
The safe storage of bacterial cultures in liquid and agar mediums is crucial both for environmental impact and for the smooth running of experiments. With this awareness, our team has paid great attention to the protection of bacterial cultures. The agar plates were parafilmed and stored in special bags in the refrigerator. Liquid cultures were stored in -80 degrees by glycerol stock method for long-term storage.
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2. Storage of mediums, enzymes and chemicals
Mediums and chemical solutions were stored under different conditions according to their properties and contents. The agar and liquid mediums were parafilmed and stored in +4 degrees. Enzymes and genetic materials were stored at -20 degrees. Experimental chemicals were separated and stored in different conditions according to their characteristics (in room conditions,+4 degree refrigerator, light-free environment). It is forbidden for each team member to touch or use these materials without wearing laboratory protection.
Waste Management
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1. Microorganism containing wastes
All microorganism treated media, glassware and plastic materials were sterilized by autoclaving and then delivered to the relevant waste unit. Our team has paid great attention to the proper management of waste management, especially after working with the microorganisms. Proper disposal of microorganisms is very important in order to avoid any environmental damage, whether genetically modified or not.
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2. Chemicals
Chemical wastes were separated according to their types and delivered to the related waste units. Chemical wastes were not stored for more than a week and were quickly removed from the laboratory after the study. We pay attention to the use of masks while working with dangerous chemicals. Non-inhalation of these chemicals is extremely important for laboratory safety.
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3. General Wastes
Although there are no risks for our laboratory and the environment, the protections we use in the laboratory are disposable. These disposable protections are stored separately from dangerous wastes. Our lab coats have been sent to clean regularly. Harmless general wastes were disposed appropriately from the laboratory.
References
- [1] Fangzhong Wang, Weiwen Zhan. Synthetic biology: Recent progress, biosafety and biosecurity concerns, and possible solutions
- [2] Thomas Binz, Sam Weiss Evans, Todd Kuiken, Ken Oye, Megan J. Palmer, Cécile van der Vlugt, Kathrina Yambao, and Samuel Yu. Developing a Comprehensive, Adaptive, and International Biosafety and Biosecurity Program for Advanced Biotechnology: The iGEM Experience Piers Millett.