Difference between revisions of "Team:UofC Calgary/Safety"

Safety Considerations for Lab Work

All Principal Investigators, mentors, and undergraduate researchers were required to complete lab safety training and take safety courses developed by Environment Health and Safety (EHS) prior to working in the lab. The mandatory safety training included updated versions of the WHMIS course, the occupational health and safety course, the laboratory safety course, a hazard assessment course, an incident reporting and investigation course, a spill response course, a biosafety program course, a biosafety laboratory course, and a biosafety bloodborne pathogens course. The courses cover biological containment protocols, handling of hazardous materials such as liquid nitrogen, and disposal of waste as well as standard safety practices. All were required to take a test following each course, which certifies safe lab work under EHS Guidelines. All team members, advisors, and mentors received credit for each listed course and training program, and supervisors were present in the lab at all times to oversee undergraduate work.

Our project utilized BSL1 cells (E.coli and B.subtilis) that have GRAS labelling, thus our main project did not require ethics approval by the review boards. The University of Calgary has a university-wide Biosafety Committee, whose guidelines for safe biological laboratory practices were adhered to throughout the project.The team’s lab benches and experimental plans were assessed and deemed safe to proceed with. The Environment Health and Safety (EHS) provided training and information on the hazards from the types of sources and each form of radiation. All researchers underwent safety training courses. The individuals who worked with irradiated cells received radiation safety training from the EHS.

Our project utilized Bacillus subtilis and a commonly used lab-strain of Escherichia coli TOP10 which are non-pathogenic and non-infectious as they are Biosafety Level 1 organisms (BSL-1). Thus the organisms were harmless to researchers.  Additionally, the team worked with HCT116 cell lines, and 1BR3 cell lines which are Human colon carcinoma and Human skin fibroblast cell and are classified as Biosafety Level 2(BSL-2).The cell lines were received from completely anonymous donors. We handled these cell lines at containment level 2 in accordance with the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard and Biosafety Committee guidelines.

Safety Considerations for Device

Patch Design

Choosing Patch Materials

Considering Human Use

Containment

Future Considerations

A kill switch in Bacillus should be designed as engineering a kill switch into standardized plasmids could be useful for future iGEM competitions. Additionally, integrating BBI in multiple sites would give more auxotrophic sites, increasing the safety of using B.subtilis in the device.

Safe disposal:

See pages 11 and 12 of the Device Manualfor storage information.