Safety has always been on the agenda of the Unicamp_Brazil team from the onset. As such, the choice to work with waste management, to fulfill a desire to improve the working conditions of collectors and sorters at recycling centers, and decrease the environmental footprint of mankind. With this, we structured all our actions and projects based on the positive and negative impact they could generate.
We launched our team during the COVID-19 pandemic, which required strict safety measures to avoid SARS-CoV-2 dissemination. From the launch date, in August 2021 until March 2022 (when UNICAMP returned to face-to-face activities) we held meetings and research remotely, following the guidelines from the World Health Organization.
The Synthetic Biology Laboratory (LaBS) is a level 2 biosafety area, which requires training on the rules of conduct to be followed during the execution of all the project's experiments. All of the iGEM Unicamp_Brazil team members participating in wet experiments in the LaBS are registered with the internal biosafety committee of the Institute of Biology at UNICAMP.
During their entire stay at the Laboratory, our members are required to wear masks, lab coats, appropriate footwear and gloves (the latter only required when handling hazardous material). The LaBS has a sink exclusively used for washing hands when entering and exiting the laboratory. Floors and surfaces are regularly disinfected with Virkon and 70% Ethanol. Liquid waste is treated with Virkon and solid waste is autoclaved prior to disposal. In spite of being built for level 2 GMOs, LaBS research only involves white list organisms (Komagataeibacter, E. coli, and Saccharomyces cerevisiae). Lab coats are autoclaved prior to being removed from the lab for washing. All work in the lab is approved by the Institute of Biology's internal safety committee.
Once our engineered strains approach a status where they could be employed in large-scale bacterial cellulose production (outside controlled laboratory conditions), dual kill switches will be introduced into the strains to avoid their escape into the wild. The bacterial cellulose produced in small or large scales is very resistant to chemicals and temperature, therefore it can be chemically washed and autoclaved, and BC membranes reaching consumers will be free from any live organism.