Team:USP-Brazil/Safety
Lab Safety
Our iGEM Team USP-Brazil is committed to comply with all the safety and security rules of the iGEM competition. During this year, the team worked entirely in University of São Paulo. Working specifically in the laboratory of Gisele Monteiro (Biochemical-Pharmaceutical Technologies Department of the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences) and Marilis do Valle Marques (Microbiology Department of the Institute of Biomedical Sciences). Both laboratories were certified Biosafety Level 1 (BSL1) and adhered to all the safety norms set by the University, the Institutes, and CTNBio, Brazil’s national biosafety and biosecurity committee. All the team members have received two courses offered by USP Institute of Biomedical Sciences, the Chemical Storage, Handling, and Disposal and the biosafety and good practices in the laboratory courses. Furthermore, all experiments were performed under the supervision of a more experienced researcher, such as our Advisor, PI, or a more experienced member of the lab.
Project specific lab safety
OGM
The project involves the use of two strains of E. coli, DH10B and HST08. Even though both strain lost their potential to infect other animals and consequently can’t infect humans or the community, their cultivations still brings some risks. The first one, is the possibility of occurring horizontal transmission between our strands and microorganisms present in the environment, leading these microorganisms to have genes associated with antibiotic resistance. The second problem, would be their escape from the laboratory due to inadequate handling and disposal of these organism. In order to avoid these incidents the team did two courses offered by USP Institute of Biomedical Sciences, the Chemical Storage, Handling, and Disposal and the biosafety and good practices in the laboratory courses. Also every experiment involving the strand handling were done inside a laminar flow cabinets, always having the UV turned on before and after its use, or, near a Bunsen burner.
Led Box
The project involves the use of blue light as the inductor for the genetic circuit, this way many experiments involved blue light exposure. For that, the team contacted Biolambda, a start up specialized in producing light sources for photobiology and photochemistry research. After explaining about the project, the team established a partnership with them and borrowed their equipment, the LEDbox. This device can emiti blue light at 450 nm. As they are an start up specialized in producing light sources, the LEDbox was created considering the safety of the client. The places with more susceptibility to light damage are the eyes, because of that the LED box is fully covered, preventing light from escaping the chamber. Biolambda also offered technical support in case of problems that may occur in the LED box. As precautions done by the team members we had low intensity of blue light and short exposure to the light. The team also talked with Cristiane Tavolare, a light specialist, to understand better about the danger of high exposure of blue light.
Bioproduction
Considering that our project have importants applicability for the industry, some insurances must be made. First of all we must ensure that the strain is a genetically stable strain that grows properly to its function. Another point that will need attention, was the disposal of such organism, since its liberation in the nature could give some biodiversity desbalance. If the project is really used in the industry, for mass production of certains compounds, blue light will be used in large scale. Since this light can cause some harm to the vision, filters will be needed in the rooms directly exposed to the light and the employees will also need to use special glasses with blue light filter for their safety.
USP-Brazil
