Every member of our team has been trained about general lab safety and project design safety by our previous members. For example, the former leader and our advisors taught us how to run the experiment correctly and avoid mistakes.
We designed our project to be as safe as possible for the safety of our team members. The core of our project is the construction of a hypoxic environment within E. coli through hemoglobin and laccase. We used an anaerobic promoter to detect the effect of the function module. The whole project is harmless to humans. During the project implementation, we chose fluorescent protein as a reporter gene, which can be directly detected without adding any harmful reagents.
Our team conducted research in a safety level 1/2 laboratory. The organisms we used, E. coli strain BL21( DE3), trans1t1,DH5α,T1 is suitable for safety level 1/2 laboratory we are working in. Besides, the plasmids we are using for transformation (pET28A) are not harmful for humans. See more in Notebook.
Because of the nature of our project, contacting with microorganisms is inevitable. In order to avoid any harmful effects to each member of our team, all laboratory work was in accordance with the safety requirements for the laboratory. This includes, but is not limited to, the following examples:
Laboratory for experiments, seminar rooms for research and discussion, and the office used to search for information and analyze data are rigorously divided. These provisions are intended to prevent the possibility of unnecessary cross-contamination in the laboratory.
We tried to avoid the use of dangerous chemicals whenever possible. We have completely banned a number of dangerous chemicals, such as ethidium bromide which had been replaced by anthocyanin for our DNA gel electrophoresis. At the same time, we have restricted the use of dangerous chemicals (such as acrylamide) which must be clearly placed in marked areas in the laboratory. And we were also required to keep the chemistry reagents in classified storage.
Following the safety rules during the experiment is a top priority. Therefore, our team began to organize the relevant training on experimental safety for the team members very early.
On January 20, 2022, due to the epidemic, we decided to launch an online training on experimental safety during the progress of the project. As a senior with experience in the team, Huanzhou Yang explained the safety rules to be paid attention to in the process of the experiment, summarized iGEM's requirements for project safety and China's biosafety policies. It laid a safety foundation for our subsequent experiments.
Since then, our team conducted the experimental safety learning training offline in mid-April, which improved the experimental level of the team members. After the theoretical training, we conducted a relevant assessment on the experimental operation and experimental safety of the experimental team members. The assessment results reached the expected standard, which laid a foundation for the continuous progress of the subsequent experiments.
During the experiment, our team conducted a supplementary meeting offline in mid-May, which further emphasizing the importance of experimental safety during the experiment. In this meeting, the safety requirements of the online meeting summary were repeated and emphasized again, and some unsafe operations that may exist in the previous experiment process were criticized and summarize. We reviewed some of the laboratory safety rules, explained to some team members who were not familiar with the experiment. It has laid a solid foundation for the future of experimental safety.
Because to our high emphasis on experimental safety, no experimental accident had ever occurred during the experiment. This can not only guaranteed the personal safety of the team members, but also brief the experimental period.