Specific Safety Concerns

Laboratory Safety: Our project involves regular use of ethidium bromide, a DNA-intercalating agent known to cause cancer, as well as the use of powerful UV light, for visualization of gel electrophoresis. We must prepare culture media with antibiotics, which could be harmful to humans in large doses. We also work with ethanol lamps to maintain a sterile environment, which do involve having an open flame on the benchtop.

Environmental Safety: If any biological materials escape from the lab there is a risk of transfer of antibiotic resistance from our engineered strains into other organisms. Furthermore, dissemination of the Entericidin B peptide could potentially affect the microbiological ecosystem present at the release point, but we plan to secure the release of the EcnB peptide through the use of our engineered fish tag system.

Flavobacterium: Flavobacterium psychrophilum, while a dangerous pathogen for salmonids, carries little to no negative health consequences for humans. It has been classified as a Biosafety Level 1 organism according to the NIH, and is thus essentially harmless to the human population. It is safe to work with and does not require special laboratory protocols beyond those used to work with E. coli.

Entercidin B: Entericidin B is a bacteriolytic and thus is toxic to bacterial cells. The peptide has been found in the human gut, indicating that it is not of harm to the human body at the dosages used in the product. Working with EcnB is thus a relatively risk-free endeavor and does not require special safety procedures.

Training and Enforcement

Training : All team members who work in the wet lab must complete Cornell EH&S general lab safety and chemical waste disposal courses prior to the onset of work. These courses set specific guidelines and are the standard requirement for work in a biosafety-level 1 lab at Cornell. Additionally, all team members must complete a lab orientation session with the manager of the BME instructional lab, Dr. Shivaun Archer. During these sessions, Dr. Archer familiarizes new members with the safety equipment and procedures specific to the labspace in which we work.

Prior to the onset of work for the year, all new members are required to go through a safety training program. During this program, safety officers reinforce safety procedures learned during the EH&S courses, discuss safety protocol pertaining to specific chemicals with which we work, and ensure all lab members fully understand all safety procedures.

Safety Officers: The safety officers were chosen to be team members who could directly supervise the activities of the other team members. One team member each was chosen for the wet and dry lab subteams to ensure that all team members are working safely, whether with bacterial cultures or power tools. These team members also act as liaisons to the wet lab and machine shop managers and, when necessary, the Institutional Biosafety Committee to ensure proper equipment usage.

These team members are responsible for discussing the proposed work plan for the project with the wet lab and machine shop managers before starting work to ensure that it is safe to continue. In the case of the wet lab in particular, this involves going through a detailed list of protocols, including all organisms, chemicals, and genetic constructs being worked with, to ensure conformity with the Environmental Health & Safety guidelines. They must go through the same safety training as all other team members, but are required to redo the training each time we recruit new members in order to keep up-to-date with safety considerations. In addition, they maintain contact with the supervisors of the workspaces, usually in the form of a weekly check-in, to discuss any safety concerns that have arisen and ensure that equipment continues to be used properly.

Enforcement: Team members who violate safety rules are required to work under the supervision of the safety officers for the remainder of the week, or until the safety officer believes the member is capable of performing the task unsupervised. For multiple infractions or complete disregard to safety protocols, a member may be restricted from laboratory work until he/she undergoes EHS chemical safety online training again, and demonstrates proper performance to a team leader of failed technique(s) in a controlled setting.