Difference between revisions of "Team:Cambridge-JIC/Safety"
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− | Choosing a project in the Hardware track allows our team to | + | Choosing a project in the Hardware track allows our team to minimise any safety issues associated with genetic engineering: our project involves little actual DNA manipulation in living organisms, and the small amount that we have done is minor and routine. Still, we have adopted a number of practices to ensure that our project poses minimal risk to any person or property. |
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<h3>What safety issues does our project have?</h3> | <h3>What safety issues does our project have?</h3> | ||
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− | A microscope such as the one we have developed has very few safety concerns. Microscopy is a well-established field, dating back hundreds of years, and techniques for it are common practice and ensure safety. | + | A microscope such as the one we have developed has very few safety concerns. Microscopy is a well-established field, dating back hundreds of years, and techniques for it are common practice and ensure safety. The two potential safety hazards are damage to eyes and skin from the illumination, and risk of electric shock.</p> |
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<h4>Lighting safety</h4> | <h4>Lighting safety</h4> | ||
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Some fluorescent compounds require UV light in order to excite them to emit radiation. UV light is potentially harmful to the eyes and skin if not used with caution, and should be handled carefully. However, the wavelength of UV light used (395 nm) is well above the wavelength considered most harmful to humans, around 260-270nm [1], and the power of the LEDs used is fairly low. Any UV radiation a user would normally be exposed to while using our microscope would be significantly less intense than that of sunlight, so this was not considered a serious safety issue. | Some fluorescent compounds require UV light in order to excite them to emit radiation. UV light is potentially harmful to the eyes and skin if not used with caution, and should be handled carefully. However, the wavelength of UV light used (395 nm) is well above the wavelength considered most harmful to humans, around 260-270nm [1], and the power of the LEDs used is fairly low. Any UV radiation a user would normally be exposed to while using our microscope would be significantly less intense than that of sunlight, so this was not considered a serious safety issue. | ||
All the lights in the final design of OpenScope are contained within the epi-cube, so no direct light from them will reach the user.</p> | All the lights in the final design of OpenScope are contained within the epi-cube, so no direct light from them will reach the user.</p> | ||
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+ | <h4>Electrical safety</h4> | ||
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+ | OpenScope uses electric light and it is computer-controlled, which involves the use of electricity in our microscope. All electricity used to run OpenScope was 12V DC or lower, which is a safe voltage. Anyone who builds one will need to do some wiring, but all instructions are clear and designed to minimise risk. | ||
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+ | The nature of our project makes it inherently impossible for anyone, even with malicious intentions, to use it to harm others or the environment. | ||
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<h4>Biosafety</h4> | <h4>Biosafety</h4> | ||
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<h3>How secure is our lab?</h3> | <h3>How secure is our lab?</h3> |
Revision as of 08:48, 10 September 2015