Team:BNDS China/Safety
Safety
Safety Lab Design:
As a biology lab program, we are facing a lot of safety issues, including biohazards, contamination, corrosive solution, and even fire accident. In order to let our project go securely, we need to set up safety-based rules:
- Wear protective equipment:
Before every laboratory activities, we would clean the table and ask our members to wear gloves and aprons when dealing with molecules and transferring bacteria.
However, when fire is involved, like during an aseptic operation, we will be ungloved and spray 70% alcohol on our hands. By doing so we avoid gloves being lightened or stuck on our hands.
- Always have a company:
We attributed our project into pieces so everyone can be part of this activity, however no one would be alone doing experiment in lab. Having a company cannot only make time less boring, but also prevent being isolated when emergency occurs.
Sometimes we will have our tutor as our company so we can ask her about the instructions and also get safe guarantee.
- Disposal of wastes:
Because we are using E. coli, which is biohazard level 1 organism, we don’t have very complex disposal systems. But we still have to pay attention when throwing things away. For example, we need to make sure every pipette tip that transferred liquid should be collected and discarded into designated area. We also make sure that everyone wash their hand properly after experiment.
Safe Project Design:
Our bacteria allow a more natural way of soften hard water instead of using chemicals. In industries and agriculture, this can allow daily water use for appliances less harmful to the machine thus save people’s money. The product can be produced cheaper than nanometer filter and can be collected because bacteria are much larger than molecules. The only problem we are facing now is the organic excretion of bacteria, which may make the water smell bad. This problem may be solved by eliminating the gene of producing odorous in E. coli or change it into a fragrant gene.
