Given that we are handling various equipment, chemicals, and synthetic organisms in our lab, we prioritize safety when conducting experiments. The following page summarizes the safety measures that we strictly follow through this iGEM project. You can also refer to the Final Safety Form submitted by our team for more details.
Most of our experimentations were conducted in the HKUST InnoLab, which is equipped with the following safety features:
The Innolab is also within close range of a safety shower and eyewash station (10-second walking).
Students operating in the laboratory are under constant supervision by qualified advisors including our team PI.
Students are required to label all solutions and cell culture plates with the name of the chemical or organism, the name of the user, and the date. All waste that contains cell samples is treated with flame or bleach before disposal. For proper disposal of waste, specific bins are set up separately in our lab, including one for general waste and one for biohazards. Pipette tips, Eppendorf and falcon tubes, cell culture plates, agar gels, cuvettes, and gloves that have been used during experiments are disposed of in the bin for biohazards. Also, all waste potentially containing cell samples are properly treated with flame or disinfectant before being discarded. The biohazard waste will be subsequently processed by the Health, Safety, and Environment Office (HSEO) in HKUST with experienced personnel.
Students are required to take safety courses and pass online tests offered by the Health, Safety, and Environment Office (HSEO) before getting access to and operating in any laboratories at HKUST. Students working in InnoLab are well-informed about the potential dangers in laboratory settings and are capable of mitigating and handling potential accidents according to standard procedures.
The three courses the all members passed before conducting any labworks are:
In early June, all students operating in InnoLab during iGEM were given a 5-day wet lab training by advisors to familiarize themselves with the laboratory settings, equipment, laboratory techniques, and safety precautions that are very important in conducting experiments. Students were taught about the proper procedures for basic cloning protocols, including digestion, ligation, SLiCE assembly, MiniPrep, colony PCR, gel electrophoresis, inoculation, plate streaking and spreading, etc. During our educational events, high school workshop series and YSIP, laboratory safety is also covered as an important lesson at the beginning.
Throughout our experimental journey, our team used E. coli strain DH5α and Y. lipolytica strain Po1f. These strains are both white-listed, classified under Biosafety Level 1, and were always handled under an aseptic environment.
Our chassis Yarrowia lipolytica is commonly found in foods and qualified as a food-additive producer by the European Food Safety Authority (EFSA). Existing cases serve as good examples to back up the safety of our DHA product. The engineering process did not introduce modifications or mutations that may lead to potential hazards, and no hazardous inducers are involved to achieve a controllable expression. Also, during production, only qualified media without detected pollutants will be used for the fermentation.
Moreover, DHA obtained from our process is not strictly considered a GMO product as the engineered cells are not contained in the final product, and will undergo the same quality inspection process after purification steps similar to existing cases.
According to interviews with Dr. Zhu Yuanmin and Dr. Young-Kyoung Park, in the future, if we were to commercialize our design, we will submit the engineered strain to relevant governmental authorities for approval, which may take years.
As a project in bio-manufacturing, the design and further implementation of biocontainment strategies also play a significant role in terms of safety of the project. For more details on biocontainment, please refer to our Future Design page.