Safe Project Design

Great importance is attached to safety in our project design. Firstly, we use E. coli as our chassis organisms, which poses no harm to individuals or environment. E. coli DH5α, Top 10, BL21(DE3), Vibrio natriegens VnDX, Vibrio alginolyticus ATCC33787 and Pichia pastoris X33 are utilized when we implement the experiments of molecular cloning, expression and verification.

This year our team also design a cell-free sensing system based on ribozyme splicing to detect the toxin genes of Vibrio parahaemolyticus causing AHPND, achieving rapid and precise pathogen identification. We use engineered OMVs to deliver the recombinant plasmids to the V. parahaemolyticus and express endolysin intercellularly, which can specifically kill the pathogen to heal the sick prawns.

All the proteins are totally harmless to human body. All the plasmids are harmless for human beings and none of our parts would raise any safety issue according to the current expertise.

Safe Lab Work

The building of laboratory includes the location of emergency exits, emergency ventilation system, fire-fighting equipment, first aid kits and so on. Every year after recruiting new members, we spend several weeks training them in basic laboratory operations and handling safety accidents. Laboratory coat, gloves and glasses are necessary when entering the laboratory. All culture fluid and culture medium with bacteria are processed properly to prevent the potential biological pollution. We handle all the biological materials, wastes and equipment strictly following the BSL-1 requirements. Our lab is also equipped with professional operators who can disposal all the dangerous waste biological products properly. We turn off the water and electricity, close windows and doors before we leave the lab.

At the same time, we invited laboratory safety engineer, Lina Wu, to conduct safety education for all team members when they officially got into the experimental phase.