Summary
To ensure the safety of our beloved team members during the iGEM season we created the safest working environment possible. Not only regarding the laboratory work, but also concerning the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic and the changing regulations following it. The permission for our team members to work inside the institute that accommodates our laboratory – the institute for molecular microbiology and biotechnology – was given after mandatory safety instructions. Unexperienced team members were supervised by their lab-group leader until they were assigned our “Lab-License”. Over the course of the competition, all safety guidelines, whether provided by the iGEM committee or our university, were adhered to at all times.
Laboratory safety & GLP
In order to work in the laboratory, a safety instruction was mandatory for everyone. This instruction covered basic laboratory safety issues such as personal protective equipment, proper waste disposal and handling of hazardous chemicals. Further issues like fire response guidelines and first aid instructions, e.g., the eye and body showers, were included as well. Additionally, regulations for the creation, handling, inactivation and disposal of genetically modified organisms (GMOs) established by German law (“Gentechnik Gesetz” (GenTG)) were discussed in detail. Prerequisite to conduct molecular biology experiments, was the S1 (biosafety level 1) certification of the corresponding laboratory rooms.
As our project includes several different approaches, we divided our team into five lab groups. Each group was led by an experienced master student to train our bachelor team members to ensure good laboratory practice (GLP). Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the bachelor students mostly had remote lectures and hence only little to no practical experience beforehand. To tackle this and to ensure good laboratory practices we established our “Lab-License”. This license assigned the owner proper laboratory skills and allowed to further work without direct supervision by their group leader.
Project safety
The organisms we used in our project are all covered by the iGEM white list and are certified S1 strains. Our project design included risk assessment and safety considerations from the beginning. As MonChassis aims to establish an industrial production process, our organisms were designed to thrive inside a controlled, synthetic environment and do not survive outside of it. To this regard, we introduced auxotrophic markers into our engineered strains, which is common practice when working with yeasts. All parts utilized in the engineering of our strains are of non-pathogenic origin and covered by iGEMs white list as well.
COVID-19 safety
Unfortunately, the COVID-19 pandemic is still ongoing in 2022. Luckily, safety precautions were less harsh than last year. Although, wearing masks was mandatory at all times, regulations on safety distance were dropped, allowing laboratory work with the full crew. To prevent team members from infecting each other, we agreed on rapid COVID-19 tests in advance to our weekly team meetings, which therefore were held in person as well. Testing was dismissed after it was no longer cost free. Nonetheless, meetings were held in a hybrid fashion to allow for remote participation.