Safety

Safety & Security

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Introduction

In South Korea, where synthetic biology is not spotlighted as much, research facilities and laboratories regarding synthetic biology are generally inferior. Students are incapable of receiving appropriate safety lessons on synthetic biology, which could lead to severe physical hazards. Therefore, Seoul Korea team strives to improve the safety conditions of our team members and create a safe research environment by re-modeling the laboratory and providing necessary lessons on synthetic biology. In addition to raising the awareness of safety & security among the Seoul Korea team, we spread our knowledge and understanding to diverse ranges of student groups through presentations, safety cartoons, living modified organisms manuals, and more. By formulating a safe laboratory and research environment, the Seoul Korea team contributed to reducing the possibility of laboratory accidents and allowing students to learn/investigate synthetic biology in ideal circumstances. The Seoul Korea team thoughtfully comprehended the importance of safety/security within biology experiments and endeavored to achieve our goals in security fields.

LMO education and certificate

Before conducting an experiment, every member of Seoul Korea team recognized detailed regulations regarding lab safety, living modified organisms (LMO), synthetic biology, and the environment. To strengthen security in the laboratory and eliminate unpredictable accidents, Seoul Korea team was dedicated to awarding certificates in four categories: biology, living modified organisms education, awareness of safety, and health/environment. Every member of Seoul Korea team attended lectures on those four categories and tested for exams after the course to clarify their understanding and receive certifications. This education is provided by the ministry of science, national research safety headquarters, ICT, and the Korea research institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology. By completing the required courses, the Seoul Korea team gained insight into general lab safety and detailed regulations on hazards. Utilizing information obtained from attending four different lectures, Seoul Korea team both strived to improve safety conditions during experiments and educate other students regarding the importance of following regulations in the laboratory. Also, Seoul Korea team provided education to students or researchers who require proper safety protocols and guidance. In addition to online LMO education, our team attended offline safety education before every lab activity. Since online education might be perplexing and impersonal, we also hosted offline safety education, which is more straightforward and comprehensive. Before every lab experiment, our team learned some necessary precautions and safety regulations. Seoul Korea team ensured the importance of safety lessons through both offline and online education.

The Ministry of Science online safety education content revision

In order for us to do complex experiments within the lab, we were required to obtain certificates in the specific science field by law. To conduct our iGEM experiments, we had to acquire four different types of certificates: 2022 Education for R&D LMO Researcher, 2022 Awareness of safety, 2022 Health·Environment, and 2022 Biology. While listening to the educational videos we had to watch for the certificate, we noticed minor spelling/grammar/vocabulary errors within the videos. However, even these minor mistakes could lead to severe and dangerous accidents in the lab; the small mistakes could result in miscommunication and misunderstanding of the law. After the safety and security team observed all of the educational videos, we turned the video into a transcript where we could find more mistakes that can be crucial when communicating to the audience. We corrected over 430 mistakes within the four videos we watched, and our team can ensure that there are going to be more. Not only were the mistakes found in the videos, but also on their homepage. We took the problem very seriously and directly contacted the Ministry of Science and sent the revised version of the content. We requested the Ministry of Science and ICT and the National Safety Research Headquarters (NSRH) to review the revised work and update the videos immediately so that they don’t cause any accidents in the future. Even though these mistakes were minor errors in translating Korean into English, our team knew from experience that anything can happen in the lab and that there should be no mistakes when considering many peoples’ lives. After our team revised the transcript, we hope more students and researchers learn accurate information regarding synthetic biology and lab safety regulations.

Lab safety education interview

Although many researchers completed their lab safety education, most are ignorant of the importance of following safety regulations in a laboratory. Similar to researchers in a professional laboratory, students receive regular safety education from schools. However, the Seoul Korea team acknowledged that safety training provided by the school is insufficient for students to raise awareness about the significance of safety regulations. Students have the right to be educated in a safe environment. To achieve this goal, students should learn fundamental safety rules and consider lab safety as the most significant part of their investigation and experiment. Therefore, the Seoul Korea team visited international high schools in South Korea and interviewed biology teachers regarding safety accidents in the laboratory. By interviewing an expert, the Seoul Korea team expanded their perspective and collected information regarding typical safety issues. Based on the interview responses, Seoul Korea team created a safety manual and distributed them to the school. Safety manuals created by Seoul Korean team contain the most frequent or common accidents in a laboratory and additional solutions to those issues. Safety manuals were distributed to students in a laboratory, displayed on a board near science laboratories, and presented during class. Therefore, the Seoul Korea team believes that safety manuals can benefit students by informing them about the real-life consequences of not following safety regulations and raising their awareness of safety in the lab environment. Ultimately, we aim to reduce accidents in school laboratories and contribute to a safe learning environment for students.

Manual distribution

As much as we realize the importance of following safety precautions and the lack of basic education in school labs, we decided to make a manual for the purpose of education. Based on the education our team received from the Ministry of Science, National Research Safety HQ, ICT, and Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology, we prioritized the education our high school labs needed the most. First was Chadwick International, followed by Seoul Foreign School. Based on the research we have done at each school, the most hazardous lab environment was related to chemical waste and biological organisms. We incorporated our findings with synthetic biology to complete the safety manual. We ensured that students, including instructors, could understand the manual effectively. We proposed the manual to the instructors who were in charge of keeping the labs clean and safe. Our instructors have sent a feedback that the manuals were extremely clear-cut and helpful. Although safety rules have been educated in classrooms, specific details of attire or hair have often been overlooked. We believe that following such basic safety rules could prevent massive accidents. There were also rules that were overlooked outside of the lab. Students and instructors have commented that they weren’t aware of such rules. Therefore, by following the manual, Seoul Korea team has made adjustments to the lab environment as well. We posted safety labels outside of the lab. We expect that education, distribution of the manual, and making adjustments will prevent hazards among the researchers in labs.

Fundamental safety education targeted toward elementary students

Although following the safety precautions in our laboratory is important, educating others is equally important so that we can all conduct experiments without accidents. As we grow up and get educated in school, we learn basic lab precautions that we have to follow. However, we figured that underclassmen, such as elementary schoolers, are rarely exposed to such experiences. Being exposed to a subject from a young age usually helps one learn that subject easily and in-depth. The same rule applies to Lab safety. Therefore, we thought that it was our obligation to help young children to learn about lab safety. In order to achieve our goal, we asked to cooperate with an art school in Wi rye, Gyeonggi-do, South Korea. During our education, we went over the general safety precautions we have to follow when being in a lab. Although they are too young to work in a real lab, we believe that such experience will definitely help them when, in the future, they perform labs in school or in other science competitions. After our brief education, we asked the students to draw a painting regarding lab safety. Despite their young age, many showed deft skills and had great creativity. Furthermore, they were great at adapting the information they had perceived and interpreting it in a way that suited them best. Enlightening students about fundamental lab safety is beneficial because consistent safety education from a young age can change their perspectives on viewing lab safety.

Making Safety cartoon and Distribution in Schools

Mastering lab safety regulations and safety protocols are an arduous process. Considering its complexity and strictness, many researchers and students are ignorant of the importance of following regulations in a laboratory. Therefore, the Seoul Korea team visualized various safety hazards and protocols into cartoon types and distributed them to different schools to raise awareness among students. Safety cartoons created by the Seoul Korea team consist of various safety hazards such as chemical spills, improper equipment/gear, etc., allowing students to learn safety hazards by spotting them. The main focus of creating safety cartoons was to convert complicated contexts, such as safety regulations, into more simplified and realistic cartoon drawings. Therefore, students can handle complex issues such as lab safety in a more straightforward and animated method. Although many believe that school laboratories are not as dangerous as professional laboratory buildings, school labs also accumulate various hazardous chemicals and require appropriate safety education. Therefore, educating the student on fundamental knowledge and regulations could improve safety and security in the laboratory. With support from Chadwick International School and Seoul Foreign School, the Seoul Korea team distributed safety cartoons to laboratories in those schools. Furthermore, our team introduced safety cartoons to ISBC (International high school biology competition) participants and raised awareness among students who are interested in synthetic biology.

Modification of our Laboratory environment

Since experiments and lab activities regarding synthetic biology could be potentially hazardous and infectious, we decided to modify our existing environments by eliminating all possible threats to human health and following various laboratory rules. First, our team identified that two main organisms utilized in our experiments, Bacillus subtilis and Escherichia coli (E.Coli), belong to biosafety level 1, meaning that there are no potential hazards to human health and the environment while conducting an experiment with these organisms. Although it is proven that our experiments are not hazardous to human health, our team requested a biosafety level for our laboratory. By including a biosafety label at the front of our laboratory, our team meticulously followed the law provided by the government.

In addition to inserting the biosafety level at the front door of our laboratory, we thrived on providing a safe research environment for team Seoul Korea members. First, we consistently cleaned and washed lab coats and always taught members to wear lab coats for any type of laboratory experiment. Second, we suggest all our team members wear safety goggles inside the laboratory. Any members without safety goggles can not enter the laboratory due to different hazards existing inside.

Furthermore, in the process of treating lignin, we need heat above 200 celsius to increase the hydrophilic characteristics of the lignin. However, while utilizing the heat above 200 celsius, our team members could experience severe injuries, including skin burns. Therefore, we created specific regulations while utilizing heat in our experiment. For instance, every team member was obligated to use gloves that could afford heat while treating lignins. Also, we consistently checked the oven temperature by utilizing an infrared thermometer. Since the oven is hot enough to cause skin burns after being turned off for a few minutes, all of our team members heed to surrounding environments while handling the heat. Not only did we spread our knowledge on biosafety and laboratory security to other students and organizations, but our team also modified our laboratory conditions to create a safer and healthier environment. Our team has always prioritized guaranteeing the health of our team members and protecting them from any potential hazards.

Conclusion

By learning how to maintain a safe research environment and educating other students about safety regulations on synthetic biology, our team acknowledged the significance of safety in a laboratory. Since synthetic biology could be a hazardous and infectious field of study, guaranteeing the health of researchers and students are crucial. Under strict laboratory regulations, our team could minimize the possibility of lab accidents and experiment in a protected environment. In further effects, we hope our team has contributed to decreasing safety issues in synthetic biology. Although small mistakes can happen anytime in a laboratory, our team thrived on creating a safer research environment where everyone can study synthetic biology without concern and anxiety.