Difference between revisions of "Team:DTU-Denmark/Safety"

Revision as of 09:07, 15 October 2019

Safety

Every iGEM team has to consider the safety procedures and precautions associated with their experiments. However, our project has additional considerations that have to be taken into account, as we are working with a non-standard organism and using methods that are rarely used in the iGEM competition.

Regarding the organism

As mentioned in the project description, filamentous fungi are important producers in the biotechnological industry and they form the base of our project. We have chosen to work with Aspergillus niger as it is an important production organism, and the tools required to genetically engineer it already exists. We have used the specific strain ATCC1015 [1]. This Aspergillus strain is classified as Biosafety Level 1, which indicates that it is safe to use and handle in the lab. In addition to this designation, we have performed a safety check-in, as spore-forming fungi are not directly in the whitelist. Aspergillus spores are airborne and can not only contaminate other samples but can additionally cause aspergillosis. Therefore, anytime we worked with Aspergillus we worked in a biosafety cabinet which was cleaned thoroughly with ethanol before and after work.

Fermentation safety

During our project, we will be using large-scale fermentations to verify our promoters. This introduces new challenges in safely handling our organism and the larger equipment. To the first point, Aspergillus niger, and many other filamentous fungi, the production of spores is dependent on external conditions of the fermentation.
Throughout our work with large-scale fermentation only members who had received training in bioreactors participated in the experiment. These team members wore safety goggles, gloves, and lab coats whenever entering the fermentation platform and made sure that qualified personnel were on-site for help and advice if needed.

(1) ATCC, Aspergillus niger van Tieghem (ATCC® 1015™) product information, accessed 7 September 2019
product description

@@ Line 82: / Line 82: @@
 We have chosen to work with <i>Aspergillus niger</i> as it is an important production organism, and the tools required to genetically engineer it already exists. We have used the specific strain ATCC1015 [1].
 This <i>Aspergillus</i> strain is classified as Biosafety Level 1, which indicates that it is safe to use and handle in the lab. In addition to this designation, we have performed a safety check-in, as spore-forming fungi are not directly in the <a target="_blank" href="https://2019.igem.org/Safety/White_List">whitelist</a>.
+Aspergillus spores are airborne and can not only contaminate other samples but can additionally cause aspergillosis. Therefore, anytime we worked with <i>Aspergillus</i> we worked in a biosafety cabinet which was cleaned thoroughly with ethanol before and after work.
 </p>