General laboratory safety

Our lab is classified as Biosafety Level 1, which means the lab uses microbes that pose little to no risk to healthy individuals.Prior to starting lab work,the team completed safety documentation, online safety modules, and physical safety workshops.We took the requirements of lab work and project safety very seriously by carefully studying safety protocols and preparing our work surroundings.

General laboratory safety addressed the following:

• Decontamination of materials prior to disposal, using an autoclave
• Personal protective equipment (lab coats, eye protection, and gloves)
• Building safety, chemical safety
• Prohibition of food, drinks, and any smokable materials, etc.

Our guidelines, taken from Industry-University Cooperation Foundation CHA University, cover many safety rules and procedures ranging from lab specific rules to behavior.

Project specific laboratory safety

In our project, we have chosen to use a safe and common lab strain of E. coli DH5-alpha strain. Genotype isF-(80d lacZ M15)(lacZYA-argF)U169hsdR17(r-m+)recA1 endA1 relA1 deoR

E. coli DH5-alpha is a non-colonial strain that can not permanently form colonies in the digestive tract of a healthy person or animal. A common genetic engineering experiment using E. coli DH5-alpha can be performed safely under BSL 1 conditions.