Template:Virginia/Safety

Description

Lab Safety

In the lab over the summer and fall, safety was always a primary concern. Even before starting work in the lab, all members of the team, including those not working in wetlab, took the following training modules: Autoclaving Safety, BSL-2 Training, Chemical Safety and Waste Training, and Housekeeping Practice in Research Labs.

When in lab, we observed several measures to ensure proper safety levels.

• Always using proper PPE for all experiments, including eye protection when using the UV transilluminator for analyzing gels
• Using a fume hood when working with the carcinogen Ethidium Bromide
• Proper handling of all accidents, and disposal of all waste products, autoclaving when necessary
• Using a designated space in lab for wetlab bench work
• No food or drink in lab
• Wearing closed toed shoes in lab
• Proper storage of all chemicals and reagents

Our lab manager, Ms. Christopher, was almost always available in her office for in person help on technical and safety questions in the lab. She showed us around the lab and helped us familiarize ourselves with the space before we started work. In addition, our advisor, Professor Keith Kozminski, made himself available to call with any additional questions, which we often took advantage of.

Project Safety

Quorum sensing is the ability of cells to detect and respond to population density. Our project enhances the level of activation of the autoinducer-2 (AI-2) regulated natural quorum sensing response seen in E. coli and some other bacteria. While the intended application is for enhanced biomanufacturing induction for increased outputs, in the natural setting, quorum sensing responses are often linked to more negative outcomes. Some common quorum responses are the release of virulence factors and the formation of biofilms.

Since the typical application of our project is in biomanufacturing, which occurs in bioreactors, proper biocontainment protocols are already in place. However, in the event of escape, it is possible that it be incorporated into cells that engage in these negative types of quorum responses, which would increase the number and level of cells active in this response. However, our system does not affect the threshold number of cells required to activate a quorum response, since it is also regulated by AI-2. Therefore, the escape of this system into wild bacteria will increase the effects of quorum responses, but will not create them where they wouldn’t have been otherwise.