Team:Leicester/Safety
Safety
Lab Safety
During our time doing the iGEM project we adhered to rules set by the University on safety procedures, this is mainly to protect ourselves, when we do certain procedures. One way is being inducted into the lab that we were working in such that we were aware what to do in an emergency but also ensure the safety of everyone around us. Ways in which we did this:
When handling enzymes such as nucleases we used gloves to prevent cross contamination from our fingertips.
In addition when handling mutagenic chemicals such as ethidium bromide, we ensured that it was placed in a fume cupboard and kept there and when used in gels, the temperature of the liquid agarose is below the boiling point of the ethidium bromide.There was a biohazard safety bucket to place any gels, tips or gloves which ethidium bromide was in contact with.
During both our Interlab study and actual iGEM project required ensuring that parts were present within our given constructs, so we used agarose gels to do this. One of the major safety issues with this was during the production of the gels as we had to heat it up in the microwave.The agarose heats up to about 120oC so to protect ourselves we ensured we wore heat protective gloves.
Using chlorine tablets to make precept, to safely dispose of the supernatant from bacteria that were spun down.
Project Safety
In respect to our project, even though our project has a major theoretical element to it, we had considered the idea that our genetically modified bacteria may not fully colonise the gut as we expect it to. To ensure that safety is maintained for the person who has our bacteria in their system and for the environment it may release to, we considered the addition of a kill switch. More details are present in the Kill Switch section of the Project.
As the iGEM project itself requires inevitably genetically modifying a bacteria, an application to carry out work on genetically modified organisms was made to the University of Leicester Genetic Modification sub-committee on behalf of the iGEM by our supervisor Dr Richard Badge. In addition to this a risk assessment was made of what our project. The applications were approved by the sub committee and have been attached on the links below:
To note this is a draft copy, however since 14/09/2015 the application has been approved