Safety

How is safety and biosecurity ensured through Nitrate Neutralizer?

To prevent the release of our engineered bacteria into the water, our team intends on immobilizing our genetic construct in alginate beads following protocols derived from the iGEM Purdue 2016 team as well as our iGEM 2021 protocols. It is also important that reclaimed nitrate remains fully secure in the alginate beads until a select condition triggers its release. This would be where we would implement an inducible promoter in our design.

How does UMaryland implement safe lab work?

Wearing proper Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) (Lab coat, gloves, goggles, masks, closed toed shoes
Ensuring the proper disposal of hazardous materials
Ensuring the proper disposal of broken glass
Using thermal gloves to handle hot or cold objects
Clearly labeling everything with typical conventions (Name of object, UMaryland iGEM, Date Constructed)
Using extra caution with dangerous devices such as the transilluminator which exposes UV light
Taking extra caution around materials that are known carcinogens
Having knowledge of where chemical showers and eyewashes are located in the lab in case of emergency