Minimizing the risks for team members and society is one of the most
important issues, especially for us undergraduates. We shall further illustrate
the concept of biosafety and our endeavors by quoting and explaining the five
guiding principles of safe manipulation gene manipulation biology (GMO)
summarized by Kimman et al. in 2008[1].
1. Hazard identification: Identification of risk assessment have been completed, and all laws and regulations have been considered in accordance with the provisions of the last paragraph.
2. Biological containment: Biological containment refers to the use of
organisms with "reduced replication capacity, ineffectiveness, transmissibility
and toxicity". For our project, replication-restricted viruses are used and they
are all self-inactiviting lentivirus.
3. Concentration and Shell: All working steps for packaging lentivirus are
carried out in our BSL II laboratory, and lentivirus is limited to a biosafety
cabinet. Cell culture and virus storage are also carried out in separate
incubators and freezers.
4. Exposure minimization: This aspect of the exposure minimization
guidelines can be performed under "Operator Protection". When the
manipulating the viral vectors, care should be taken to avoid liquid droplets,
especially aerosols. By inserting or removing materials from laminar flow
cabinet and cleaning all equipment after completing the work tasks, we can
avoid the possible transfer of virus carriers.
5. Physical containment: We will meet the requirements of physical
containment by performing all operations on lentivirus in BSL II laboratory in
which we shall guarantee the number restriction for persons’ entrance in the
BSL II laboratory.
