Team:Leicester/Safety
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 included wearing safety gloves when handling enzymes such as nucleases to prevent cross contamination from our fingertips. Gloves were also used when handling mutagenic chemicals such as ethidium bromide required ensuring we also placed it in a fume cupboard and ensure when using on the gels that the temperature of the liquid agarose is below the boiling point of the ethidium bromide.
In respect to our project, eventhough our project has a major thoertical 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