Team:USAFA/Safety

 

Safety

The USAFA iGEM team practiced safety during the planning and experimentation stages of the iGEM competition. The team selected carrier and test organisms that did not present a health risk in the event that they escaped the lab or contaminated a team member. The DH5-Alpha strain of E. coli and the RHA1 strain of Rhodococcus jostii did not present a threat to healthy individuals as these organisms were all a bio-safety level of 1. During the creation and testing of our vectors, the team ensured that they did not endow any organisms with vectors that would allow them to cause disease. The team prepared to work in the lab with safety and security training. In safety training, the team was taught how to use safety equipment and avoid contamination. This included learning the layout of safety showers and how to properly dispose of hazardous material. Additionally, team members were well instructed on how to safely handle hazardous chemicals and glassware to prevent injury. During security training, the team learned how to keep sensitive information secure across government networks. We were then given a lab practical where each individual lab techniques were observed and tested to ensure proper lab safety procedures were able to be followed by the individual.

Since PFOA and PFOS are emerging contaminants, we took extra precaution when handling them such as always wearing nitrile gloves and working under a fume hood. We also had Air Force Bioenvironmental Engineers give us a lesson on how to properly test and handle water samples that could possibly contain these contaminants.