Team:RHIT/Safety
From 2012.igem.org
Line 56: | Line 56: | ||
<div class="rhit-genericBox"> | <div class="rhit-genericBox"> | ||
<h2>Researcher, Public, and Environmental Safety</h2> | <h2>Researcher, Public, and Environmental Safety</h2> | ||
- | + | <p>The Rose-Hulman iGEM team has considered safety a top priority since the early stages of project development. | |
- | + | As a result, projects that could pose a significant risk were dismissed. | |
- | + | Our laboratory space is considered a Basic Biosafety Level 1 laboratory but it does have a few characteristics of higher categories. | |
- | + | It has controlled access, biohazard signs and waste disposal bins, and an autoclave. Other safety features are demonstrated below.<br /> | |
- | + | <div align="center"><img src="https://static.igem.org/mediawiki/igem.org/2/2a/Safety_pics.png" width="60%"></div><br /> | |
- | + | All participating students received standard safety and good laboratory practice training as part of their academic laboratory course-work. | |
- | + | The Instructor provided more specific safety instruction, as necessary. | |
- | + | Proper attire was worn at all times in the laboratory. Gloves and glasses were donned as warranted. | |
- | + | The only organisms used in our project are common laboratory strains of <i>Saccharomyces cerevisiae</i> (BY4741 and BY4742) and <i>Escherichia coli</i> (NEB5alpa), | |
- | + | which are both considered Risk Group 1 microorganisms according to the Laboratory Biosafety Manual published by the World Health Organization. | |
- | + | Group 1 organisms are defined as “no or low individual and community risk, a microorganism that is unlikely to cause human or animal disease.” | |
- | + | Aseptic technique is used whenever working with these organisms and any contaminated wastes are sterilized by autoclaving or destroyed by commercial pyrolysis. | |
- | + | All laboratory chemicals are stored, handled and used as recommended by the manufacturer, | |
- | + | and they are disposed of in accordance with national, state, and local regulations and recommendations. | |
- | + | The laboratory space and contents are not accessible by unauthorized personnel. | |
- | + | All microbial strains, including bacteria rendered antibiotic resistant by transformation, harbor nutritional auxotrophies or other mutations | |
- | + | that mitigate the risk of their growing outside of the laboratory or causing disease in healthy humans or animals. | |
- | + | Furthermore, none of our recombinant constructs produce any known contagion or toxin.<p> | |
- | + | <h2>BioBrick Safety</h2> | |
- | + | <p>None of the BioBrick parts utilized or constructed are known to pose any safety issues. | |
- | + | Furthermore, they are well contained by the microbes that harbor them. The risk of unintended transfer to any other organism is minimal.</p> | |
- | + | <h2>Biosafety Group</h2> | |
- | + | <p>Rose-Hulman does not have a biosafety group, committee or review board other than an Animal Care and Use Committee, | |
- | + | which oversees animal research. Safety training and laboratory waste disposal are facilitated by an Environmental Health and Safety Officer, who also serves as a resource for faculty and students.</p> | |
- | + | <h2>Future iGEM Safety</h2> | |
+ | <p>The possibility of designing mutually dependent strain/vector systems for routine manipulation and storage of BioBrick parts should be explored.</p> | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
</div> | </div> | ||
</body> | </body> |
Revision as of 03:56, 4 October 2012