Team:Shenzhen SFLS/Safety

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Safety

In our experiment, safety is always the top priority. Before the experiment started, we have taken theoretical courses and bio-safety training. Besides, the experts, undergraduates and SZU-iGEM members in Shenzhen University help us a lot in the experiment operations. We also punish the members who are involved in the lab assignments to pay the fine if they didn't follow the rules.

List of Rules

• 1.

  Before the members in lab leave, they should have cleaned all the garbage and recover the position of all the experimental equipment and reagent.

• 2.

  Whenever we get the new reagent, the member who signs for it must reserve it in the right environment and write a report for its position to other members.

• 3.

  Different bio-garbage should be placed in different waste bins. Eg. Pipette tips should be placed in the Sharp-bin

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• 4.

  If the reagent or product of bacteria pollutes part of the lab, the member should firstly prevent the spread of the pollution and notify the manager of the lab. Then use the individual washing such as ethanol to clean the resident.

• 5.

  Food and Beverage are not allowed in the lab.

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• 6.

  Whenever members are in the lab, the lab coat and respirator must be wearing.

• 7.

  When the experimental equipment is working, there must be at least one member who is familiar with the working principle to stay and oversee it till the experiment is finished.

• 8.

  Lab note should be taken in details in every experiment as clearly as you can. After the experiment is finished, upload the experiment note in the group chat for information sharing.

• 9.

  Lock the door when leaving the lab, prevent unauthorised people from attending in.

• 10.

  Turn off all the lights and air conditioners while leaving the lab

• 11.

  You should have at least one senior student/undergraduate or expert teacher when we are experimenting.

• 12.

  9The table must be clean before leaving, and the UV light in the benchtop must be turned off.

We worked in a laboratory which is classified as biosafety level 1, which means that the microbes we used only pose little danger or even no harm to human bodies.

The microbes we used for lab experiments were Escherichia coli (strain: BL21 and DH5a). Escherichia coli is a BSL-1 microbe and generally has no harm to humans. Also, if BL21 and DH5a are released into the environment, the antibiotic genes inside might be transferred horizontally to other bacteria, allowing superbugs to thrive.

So, to prevent this happened, all the LB plates, equipment and nutrient solution should be sterilised by high temperature over 120 °C. Also, the experimenters are required to wear gloves and lab coat while operating the experiment and clean their exposed skins thoroughly before they leave.

Polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis

The SDS-Page is used to separating biological macromolecules, usually proteins or nucleic acids, into different ladders according to their electrophoretic mobility. Since acrylamide used in the gel is a kind of skin irritant and potential occupational carcinogen, we make sure to wear gloves, mask and lab-grown during the experiment. At the same time, ethidium bromide we used in DNA gel electrophoresis is considered as a mutagen. Thus, we wear gloves, lab-gown, and mask the whole time and clean the exposed skin thoroughly.