iGEM Groningen wants to keep the lab safe at all costs!
Template:Team:Groningen/CONTENT/SAFETY
Safety
All team members attended a lecture by the University of Groningen biosafety officer. He gave us tips to keep the lab safe, and who to contact if an accident does occur. Finally, he explained the regulations that govern the use of genetically modified organisms in the Netherlands.
After this meeting all team members that did not yet have a VMT (Safe Microbial Techniques) certificate, participated in a 3 day course to obtain this certificate. During this training our members were taught how to work safely with microorganisms and in the lab in general. We are proud to say that all members passed the course and are certified to work safely in the lab.
Besides the efforts we undertook to train our members to work safely in the lab we always followed the following commandments for laboratory work at the University of Groningen;
Keep the lab windows and doors closed at all times
During work you should wear a lab coat.
Eating, drinking and food storage are prohibited in the lab!!!
Do not wear jewelry and watches.
Disinfect the area directly when spilling GMOs - Use tissues to get rid liquids and autoclave these - Disinfect with 70 % ethanol - Wash your hands thoroughly
Prevent aerosols - Centrifuge only closed tubes - Use the inoculation loop in a proper way!
Do not pipet with your mouth.
Disinfect material before and/or after using
Autoclave all biological waste (when not toxic)
Wash your hands when leaving the lab
These rules apply to all labs at the university of Groningen.
Furthermore, we had one extra safety issue in the lab, DNA staining. Ethidium bromide is often used as a DNA stain in agarose gels. however, this stain is highly carcinogenic. There are alternatives for this stain such as DNA stain G from Serva. Serva DNA stain G is a non-carcinogenic stain that is at least as sensitive as ethidium bromide. For extra safety with comparable results, iGEM Groningen decided to use this stain instead of ethidium bromide.