Team:St Andrews/Safety
Safety
Safety
Many of the parts that we used in our systems were on the white list, which means they posed no harm and the parts that were not specified on this list were approved for use by the check in forms submitted to iGEM. There was one part, ChicV viral tag that we were not able to submit, which we intended to use to increase affinity of one part of the split mNeonGreen protein to the corresponding part of the protein that had the SH3 domain of amphiphysin 1, to which the ChicV tag would bind to. This tag did not pose any risk on its own without the presence of the other proteins of the virus which confer virulence. There were no significant risks posed by the selected chassis for the cell lysis portion of the project (DH5alpha E. coli and bacillus subtilis), however the chassis for the biofilm detection system (pseudomonas aeruginosa) is considered to be BSL2, so proper precautions were taken while working with this organism. Additionally, the FHV B2 protein sequence that was used in one of the biofilm constructs originated from Nodaviridae, which is considered to be a BSL2 organism, but the sequence was used in isolation from the viral proteins negating the hazard posed by the organism.
Safety in the lab was of the utmost importance, and before lab work began the team held a safety meeting run by Helder Ferreira, one of the professors who was serving as a lab supervisors for the team, as to be informed on what to do in case of an emergency as well as basic lab safety. While in the lab, team members were required to wear their lab coats and safety goggles at all times, and wore disposable gloves when necessary. The lab in which wet-lab work was carried out in had the necessary safety features to work with BSL2 organisms, including eye wash stations, biological safety cabinets, an autoclave, and the appropriate biohazard warning labels. To prevent spread of contamination, all media containing cells was treated with Virkon detergent before disposal and all disposable waste was put into the proper bin according to whether the waste was biologically contaminated or chemically contaminated. None of the procedures carried out were unusual, but after any work with cells the work surface was wiped with ethanol to sterilise the area before continuing work.