Wet lab experiments are the heart of our project. Every theoretical thought of our ideation required rigorous experimentation in the lab. And bio labs are not children’s play arena, it is full of hazardous chemicals, toxins and biohazard. While working in a lab, it is very essential to keep ourselves and the lab safe. Keeping this in mind, way before starting our work, we had a special meeting with our lab instructors, who explained proper lab etiquettes that are to be followed while working in the lab.
Personal safety is very important in labs. Before execution of any experiment, we were never frustrated of wearing gloves, labcoats, covered shoes, and always kept safety as a priority, and made best efforts in avoiding any possible mishap. Food, drinks and any other edible substance was strictly prohibited inside the lab. This was to ensure there is no contamination and no one eats anything without cleaning their hands properly. Before leaving the lab, everyone ensured that they have cleaned their hands as well as the workbenches. This was done to prevent contamination and have a safe working and living condition.
Utilization of chemical substances was done with maximum awareness and mindfulness. Protein purification, analytical techniques like SDS-PAGE and Gel Electrophoresis were performed on a very frequent basis implying frequent handling of potentially toxic substances that include Beta-mercaptoethanol (BME), Ammonium Persulphate (APS), Acrylamide and its associated polymerization catalyst Tetramethylethylenediamine (TEMED), well known carcinogen Ethidium Bromide and the list continues to go on. Special care was taken in handling these chemicals, and any type of spillage was avoided to overcome contamination.
Another pivotal component of our project involved Click chemistry for clicking AHPC-PEG1-Azide with C8-alkyne-dCTP that would be incorporated into our Aptamers. It was indeed fun to work with chemical and biological aspects hand in hand, but came with costs of its own risks. A glance at the MSDS before ordering any reagent was never missed out. We made our efforts in ordering limited to moderate quantity of chemicals through meticulous planning and conduct in experiments. All the products purchased had their MSDS and Analysis details handy. We did deposit a copy of them to our lab, for their records and overall safety of all the users of the lab.
Our lab is complaint with both BSL1 and BSL2. For our work we needed only BSL 1 level safety, the laminar air flow hood. All the experiments and parts which required bacteria or needed to be contamination free environment, were done inside the hood. The hood was also kept clean and organised. We used to clean it using ethanol, from time to time. About the contamination-free environment concerned, it is fumigated once a year by the lab instructors.
Storage was also an essential part of our work. As we had to purchase a lot of reagents and chemicals, we had to store them properly, separate from the regular lab reagents. This was done to avoid misplacing and mishandling of any chemical. We also kept the MSDS along with it, for everyone’s use. We had separate cabinets for storing our products. Even in the refrigerators (4˚C, -20˚C and -80˚C), we ensured that all our stuffs are separately kept, properly marked and are not misplaced with lab’s regular reagents and kits. Plastic cabinets were used for storing strong acids and corrosive materials, owing to their corrosion resistance.
Proper waste disposal is one of the important aspects of safety. We might not contaminate the workbench, but we still have the potential to contaminate the lab, if we do not dispose wastes properly. Plastics had to be separated from paper. Nitrile gloves were separately dumped. Wastes which had traces of any toxic chemical was disposed off separately. Tips, gloves, tissues, etc. used during gel electrophoresis, and the gel was disposed separately. Apart from maintaining safe environment, it also helped in proper and efficient waste disposal. Bacterial cultures were autoclaved and then treated with bleach before disposing them off. Flasks which
Our lab in-charges and lab attenders never failed to clean waste disposal and appropriately deposit them at the waste collection shed and never allowed accumulation of wastes inside the lab. The institute mandates strict waste management policies and proper disposal and segregation of wastes. For our share, we tried our best to not keep any mystery chemical – by leaving them unlabelled. All ordered reagents were stored properly in appropriate assigned cabinets. Upon needs, we had stored some acids and other potentially corrosive materials under fume-hoods. Lab safety principles laid by Office of Laboratory Safety and Environmental Health (OLSEH), IISc were always respected and followed. In a nutshell, all laboratory processes were carried out with utmost responsibility and professional attitude towards laboratory safety, both biological and chemical. We are also thankful to our Lab instructor, in-carges and especially the lab attender, for guiding us as well as helping us keep the lab clean and safe for every user.