Team:GA State SW Jiaotong/Safety
Safety Overview/Workspace
Our iGEM team at Georgia state university works in a biosafety 1 Laboratory. All the organisms selected in our project are typically used in biological experiments, which are safe and not pathogenic. Despite the lack of any known pathogenic risks, lab safety rules and regulations were put in place. For example, handwashing before and after entering the lab, prohibiting food/drinks, monitoring access to the lab, wearing gloves and lab coats at all times in the lab.
We created an open flame environment using a bunsen burner during particular lab experiments that required a sterile field. To sterilize equipment and media used to grow cultures, we utilized an autoclave.
Fig1.Lab safety rules and regulations
Safety Training
Before working in the lab, everyone had to undergo safety training and tests, including Right-to-Know training, Right-to-Know Chemical Specific training, and Hazardous Waste Generator training. We learned about lab access and rules (including appropriate clothing), biosafety equipment (such as biosafety cabinets), disinfection/sterilization, emergency procedures and chemicals, fire & electrical safety.
Fig2.Safety training and test
BIOETHICS
The ethical issues caused by biotechnology have become the focus of the world. Using biotechnology rationally is responsible for human beings and the environment.
Environmental friendly
Based on the ethics and in consideration of the environmentally friendly project, we designed a suicide switch system.
Fig3.Suicide switch system
In this suicide switch system, we put two important genes, Hok and Sok into plasmid PET28A-TRP. The Hok gene encodes a toxic protein while the Sok gene encodes an antitoxic protein. With the existence of lactose and tryptophan on the scalp, there will be more antitoxin to ensure the survival of the bacteria. On the contrary, in a natural environment free of lactose and tryptophan, this regulatory mechanism ensures the death of bacteria. At the same time, the antitoxin proteins left behind by the plasmids degrade faster than toxin proteins to ensure bacteria that lose the plasmids die. We designed new engineering bacteria —— PNW33N-Gas6-suicide and PNW33N-EGF-suicide engineered bacteria. What’s more, we designed to add lactose and tryptophan to our products——essential oil to provide a liquid environment. And to avoid engineering bacteria contaminating the environment, we also designed a shampoo that contains the suicide switch so that the remaining essential oil can be washed off. We plan to use both essential oil and shampoo to ensure all the remaining engineering bacteria will suicide so that our project and product will be risk-free from contaminating the gene pool and the environment.
Fig4. Risk-free engineering
Clear instructions
To assert users’ rights, our product must have clear and transparent instructions which will include the possible side effects and suitable crowd. Users of our product should be aware of how to utilize the product and the potential risk.
COVID
Throughout conducting our team’s project, precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19 were continually followed. This included wearing masks or face coverings, hand hygiene, and sanitizing the lab after completing each day’s lab experiments. The team was also advised that anyone showing signs or symptoms of COVID-19 should not attend the lab. Team members were also advised to receive the COVID-19 vaccine to further protect our team and those working around us. Some meetings or events were also offered via Zoom or Webex for those that did not feel comfortable attending in person meetings. Precautions such as these were continuously followed and considered for each of our experiments, as well as any meetings or events.
Fig5.Precautions to prevent the spread of COVID-19
