Team:Consort Alberta/safety
Project Safety
When most people think of E. coli, they automatically associate it with the infection - from eating uncooked meat or contaminated water. However, the strain used in labs is different from the strain that causes the infection, and is non-pathogenic. The BioBricks we create are not harmful or dangerous in any way, and all the chemicals and parts used to create them are safe as well. This year we've been focusing on also creating a working prototype. This brings with it a lot of safety concerns we have to consider. As we complete our working prototype, our main focus on safety will be including clear instructions and safety warnings to ensuring workers and customers know how to use the equipment. With our device we would include a precise and easy to use manual or data sheet explaining everything the average user needs to know about our project. It's also noteworthy that to render our experiments of our E. coli sterile, it takes nothing more than a minute in the microwave and a bit of bleach to kill off anything we grow or create.
In addition to that, as far as safety goes our project itself is a method of safety – the line between detecting contamination of crude oil in soil and water versus running the risk of contaminated crops or livestock. Our ECOS alginate beads are a buffer that can be used to ensure the safety of soil and water in both rural and urban situations (see Project tab for more info.)
One problem that was raised was if our E.coli would be able to escape our alginate beads and get into the environment, causing more problems than solutions. However, the alginate matrix is tight enough to not allow any E.coli out of the beads, while still open enough to allow the xylene to get in. This ensures that the E.coli does not escape from our alginate beads while still working properly.
Workspace Safety
We are faced with a unique challenge in our lab - our lab space is the back counters of a high school science classroom. And while we don't have students poking around our experiments, we do have people coming in and out of the classroom all day on every school day. As a result, there are several things we do to keep our workspace clean and safe, not only from the students, but also for ourselves:
1. Any cupboard or space that contains our equipment we clearly label with stickers so people are aware it's iGEM property. We also label our fridge, as well as wrote a code on the front of it that tells us what plates on the inside contain which antibiotics.
2. We keep our workspace clean and organized, which prevents any mix-ups or mistakes in our lab protocols.
3. We always wear the proper lab wear - lab coats, goggles, gloves, covered shoes, tying long hair back, and anything else necessary for our own safety. We also use the correct equipment with the correct clothing, such as making sure we use oven mitts when handling hot objects.
4. Especially for the students that are in and out of classes all day, food and drinks are banned from the lab.
5. There is always an adult or mentor overseeing our experiments and protocols in the lab.
6. Whenever we use xylene, we conduct as most of our experiments as possible in the fume hood, ensuring no xylene dissipates into the rest of the room. When we take tubes out of the fume hood that contain xylene, we are sure to fully seal them.
