Team:UChicago/Safety
We further address safety in our lab in the following ways:
We work with a limited number of toxic or harmful chemicals such as ethidium bromide and bleach. Team members are required to wear rubber gloves at all times in labs, and lab coats when handling harmful chemicals.
Other flammable chemicals such as isopropyl ethanol, ethanol, and DMSO will be handled with care. In the case of a spill, liquids will be soaked up and the lab bench and any affected areas wiped down and cleaned.
Biohazardous waste materials are collected in special waste bins in the lab that will be treated by the University's hazardous waste disposal contractor.
Cells cultures are killed with bleach before disposal, and general solid waste is collected into biohazard bags and disposed of.
All members are required to attend a biosafety training appropriate to the Biosafety 1 classification of our lab. This training covered requirements for laboratory practices and equipment, biohazard containment, recombinant DNA, bioethics, fire safety, and personal protective equipment.
All members are required to attend a lecture on fire safety held by the University.
We hold weekly meetings with faculty and graduate student advisors such that experienced wet lab scientists can provide advice and feedback on safe lab practices. Graduate student advisors are also available during lab hours to provide immediate assistance.
All proteins expressed in this project are relatively harmless and nontoxic.
We used well-known, safe lab protocols for our assays.
