Team:UrbanTundra Edmonton/Safety
Lab & Researcher Safety
We keep safety at the forefront of our work. Through our day-to-day lab protocols and equipment, we aim to facilitate a safe approach to synthetic biology.
Before beginning work in the lab, all our team members took a lab safety course offered by Kim Ellison at the University of Alberta. This, along with the guidance of our PI, Michael Ellison, allowed us to become familiarized with lab work prior to working independently. Our day-to-day safety protocols include wearing appropriate PPE whenever in the lab (gloves, lab coats, closed-toe shoes, and long pants), washing our hands before exiting, tying long hair back, and strictly keeping food and drinks outside of the lab. By taking these precautions, we minimize the personal risks associated with our research. Our lab in the Medical Sciences Building at the University of Alberta is classified as biosafety level 2, meaning that it is fit for use with moderately dangerous biological agents. Even so, all of the materials we use in the lab are well-characterized and generally non-hazardous, posing minimal hazards to our health and that of the environment. We are using a strain of E.Coli called DH5-Alpha, a non-pathogenic strain developed specifically for laboratory cloning.
Environmental Safety
We are using an E.Coli strain (DH5-Alpha) with very limited ability to survive outside of the lab, they pose virtually no risk to the environment.
