Safety in the Lab

Our team members all completed safety training regarding general laboratory safety, the responsible code of research, working with and handling biosafety level 1 and 2 agents, and hazardous waste safety and disposal. To reduce risks to personnel in the lab as well as the general public, we have completed these trainings and used simple laboratory strains with biosafety level 1 risk. Additionally, we wear proper personal proptective equipment (PPE) when working in lab. More about these requirements and training can be found here.

Biosafety at Colorado State University is managed by our Environmental Health Services (EHS) and the Institutional Biosafety Committee. We follow all regulations and training requirements as required for all team members. More on CSU EHS and their policies can be found on their website.

Biosafety in the United States is governed by the Center for Disease Control (CDC). More on their regulations can be seen here.

Organisms Utillized

The two organisms we used (or used parts of) were:
Escherichia coli K-12 DH5α
Saccharomyces cerevisiae S288C

E. coli	S. cerevisiae

For a complete list of the hazards associated with these organisms and our specific use of them, see our Safety Spreadsheet.

Risks of Our Project Now

Risks to team members

Small safty risks such as eye irritation or irritation of the respiratory tract exist when using E. coli in the lab. Our team has been trained to minimize these risks and appropriate PPE is always utilized in the lab.

Risks to the general public

While the organisms we use are resistant to some antibiotics, the strains are laboratory strains not found in the natural environment. Thus, a release of these organisms would be unlikely to survive outside the lab environment and should pose no significant threat to the health of the general public.

Risks to the environment

All biological materials are autoclaved before disposal and all waste disposal, hazardous and biological, is handled by trained lab members as follows university and United States requirements. Any biological materials to escape from our lab pose little to no risk to the environment, as they would be very unlikely to survive outside a lab.

Risks of Our Project in the Future

Risks arising from our project's growth

Antibiotic-resistant and genetically modified E. coli has the potential to infect laboratory workers or the general public. However, this situations is unlikely, as our organisms have little survival success in non-laboratory environments. Testing would need to be done to confirm that the use of the terpenoid produced via the E. coli was safe for the environment (e.g. ensure that the use in a natural environment does not have toxic or dangerous effects). We do not suspect that there would be any malicious mis-use of our research or components. The knowledge and methods we use are currently widely available and are not dangerous as long as safety precautions are always taken.

Reducing Risks

Risk of release is reduced or eliminated completely by the addition of the kill switch biobrick which induces apoptosis in modified cells which are introduced to light (e.g. outside). Physical containment would also be a key safety feature in a commercialized or widely-distributed version of our final project and components. Most likely, we would keep the organism in a bioreactor, closed container, or laboratory setting at all times.


Find our official safety form here.