All team members attended a laboratory safety course that covered the following topics:

For instance, all the members involved in experimental activities are well-prepared to work in the laboratory, following adequate guidelines and emergency procedures.

To work inside the laboratory, it is necessary to enter with a lab coat, fitting jeans, closed shoes, and, if essential, safety glasses. We try not to work alone unless the situation demands it. For instance, we work minimally in pairs, all members have completed a safety course, and are always accompanied by a teacher. In addition, there is a highly detailed protocol with warnings to ensure the safety of the participants. This makes it safe and reproducible, helping the project progress and the next generation of the team to continue with it.

We are working with Escherichia coli TOP10 and BL21 strains, which are within biosafety level 1, meaning low-risk microbes that pose little to no threat of infection in healthy adults. Since our final product is the enzymes our bacteria produce, there is no risk of releasing Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs). Nevertheless, at the end of working with modified strains, they are either stored in a designated space or thrown away, following the guidelines generated by EMA and AMEXBIO to avoid releasing these GMOs into the environment.

In case of any emergency, our laboratory has emergency exits, fire extinguishers, a first aid kit, an eye wash, and a full-body shower. We also have smoke detectors and seismic alerts, and each team member knows the meeting place in case these alarms go off.