Safety
Safety has always been our top priority. Before we started experiment, we had made safety a big consideration in our project and added a lot of design to reduce risks. Not only do we take the safety of samples and reagents into account, but we also focus on raising the safety awareness of our experimenters, so that they can perform their experiments with peace of mind in a safe and well-equipped laboratory. Our safety work includes three main aspects:
- Safety in Students Training:
- Safety in Safety in Project Design:
- Safety in Laboratory:
Standardized experimental operation is the foundation and guarantee of experimental safety, we received training from professional professors and laboratory teachers before the start of the experiment.
We first considered human ethics and animal protection, selected environmentally friendly materials and reagents, and proposed precautions regarding sample leakage.
Our laboratory, with complete safety facilities and clear experimental regulations, strictly abides by the relevant safety regulations of the government and school.
Before all the experiments began, the students in charge of the experiments in our team had conducted a two-semester basic course in molecular and cell biology experiments. In addition, we also received additional laboratory safety education about experimental equipment and regulations form our laboratory teacher Ping Zhang.
In terms of ethics, there are no human experiment and human sample use in our experiment, instead, we introduce the constructed plasmid into the cells like DH5α and 293t. In addition, there are no animal use in our experiments, in line with the 3R principle.
In term of the project proposal, to avoid the potential overexpression hazards caused by the introduction of exogenous target genes, we have designed a gene switch responsive to ultraviolet (UV) light to control the expression of the XPC gene. By adjusting the relative delivery amounts of three plasmids containing UVR8-VP64, COP1-GAL4, and XPC-P2A-RUP2, as well as optimizing the sequence of RUP2—replacing rare codons, we ensure that the gene switch is off and the concentration of XPC is low when not exposed to UV light. When exposed to UV light, the interaction between UVR8 and COP1 induced by UV light, along with the de-interacting effect of RUP2, results in the stabilization of XPC protein at an appropriate concentration. This approach creates a new type of safe and effective gene therapy.
In terms of biomaterials, the cells we use (DH5A,293t)are all on the White List set by iGEM committee. In addition, the AAV transfection vectors we use do not have the ability to integrate into the human genome and is a copy defect.
During the whole experiment, all of our project strictly complied with the Biosafety Law of the People’s Republic of China and Safety Management Manual for Laboratories of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.
Our cell room is a Biosafety Level 2 laboratory, while the microbiology and molecular laboratories are Biosafety Level 1. All equipment and instruments have passed safety inspections, and laboratory management adheres to corresponding safety guidelines.
Students in the experimental group strictly adhered to the laboratory safety protocols during the experiment, wearing proper protective equipment, ensuring that reagents were not contaminated or spilled, operations were rigorous and standardized, samples were properly stored, and waste was disposed of correctly. This ensured the personal safety of the laboratory personnel while maintaining standardized operations and environmental safety.
We paid attention to the reagents safety. Different reagents and samples are stored properly according to their storage requirements and safety levels.
