Lab Safety

Contents

• Laboratory Safety Overview
• General laboratory safety protocols and precaution
• Project specific laboratory safety

Laboratory Safety Overview

Experimentation drives global advancement, but researcher safety is paramount for progress. To ensure all researchers work in a secure environment, we have implemented the following safety measures.

General laboratory safety protocols and precaution

Policies and Rules

iGEM UBC is located within the Life Science Institute (LSI), a Level 3 research institution permits research work of many possibilities.

Following policies of UBC, the entry of LSI and therefore our lab space, requires us to adhere strictly to safety rules. In order to gain access to the labspace, all wet lab members and part of dry lab members underwent the LSC Online Safety Orientation, a supervisor-guided workplace and task orientation. Any members who were scheduled for experiments completed the Laboratory Chemical Safety Course and Laboratory Biological Safety Course in advance. In addition, prior to any experiments, wet lab members were provided with additional training on equipment, protocols, and safety policies by wet-lab leads and advisors.

Our designated working space — Hallam lab, is a level 2 laboratory. Therefore, we also adhere closely to Hallam lab safety rule. Before utilizing any equipment within the lab space, members received specific learning and guidance from the lab professionals. Moreover, in order to be responsible for safeties of all members, members were not allowed to work in the lab alone.

Safety Measures

Personal Protective Equipments

All lab members are required to wear closed toe shoe, ankle covering pants, lab coat and gloves during experiments. Goggles and masks are provided. These were mandatory when working with chemical reagents.

Biosafety Cabinet

To prevent contamination of our work as well as protect lab members, we used a Class II BioSafety Cabinet when working with bacterial cultures.

Chemical hood

Emergency Shower and Eyewash Station

In case of emergency exposure, our lab is equipped with emergency shower and eyewash station used for decontamination, as a form of emergency first aid.

Project specific laboratory safety

Strain

This project utilizes Escherichia coli, a Risk Group 1 organism, as our host organism for Thermostable TdT expression. We used E.coli strain Top 10, Dh5a, and BL21 in our experiment. Therefore, we do not expect safety risks for working with our organism.

Biohazard

WT TdT used in this study is commercially available from NEB. Derived from bovine, it does not pose any biosafety risks. Our Thermostable TdT is derived from WT TdT with 11 point mutations with no biosafety hazards.

Chemicals

Various chemicals were used during the glass functionalization and cleaning. The Safety Data Sheets for these compounds were extensively considered prior to use and proper chemical handling was employed. The relevant chemicals are discussed below:

1. Piranha solution
   1. Piranha solution was used to silanize the glass slides. This chemical is highly corrosive, causing skin and eye burns. This solution was handled solely in the fumehood under the observation of a trained chemist. Eye protection, rubber gloves and lab coats were used. After use, the solution was left in the fumehood overnight to allow the hydrogen peroxide to dissipate. The remaining acid was quenched in a large volume of saturated sodium bicarbonate.
2. Silane reagents (3-Aminopropyl)triethoxysilane and (3-Mercaptopropyl)trimethoxysilane
   1. Silane reagents are skin sensitizers. Wet lab members wore two sets of gloves and handled this reagent within the fumehood.
3. Acetone
   1. Acetone is flammable and so was handled in the fumehood.

Animals

No animal was used in this study.