When working with bacteria and DNA safety is very important. Therefore we have taken necessary safety precautions when working in the lab. This includes:

• Gloves and lab coats for our own protection.
• Bacterial waste cans with plastic bags that are destroyed.
• Bacterial liquid waste containers that are mixed with chlorine bleach before disposal in the lab sink.
• Fume hoods when using strong chemicals.
• Regular cleaning and disinfection of work space.

In addition to obligatory safety courses for every master student working in labs (including fire safety, first aid and lab safety), the team got a brief course in lab safety by our supervisor before we started our lab work. This included safe deposition of waste, how to avoid spillage and when to use gloves.

All the bacteria we have been working with are lab strains of safety level 1. We have been working in a lab with safety level 2. No GMO’s were allowed to leave the laboratorium.

We should keep in mind that this project attempts to change the surfaces of bacteria, enabling the bacteria to stick to “complementary” surfaces. If pathogenic bacteria acquire such a capability by taking up our plasmids, they in will in principle broaden their ability of surface binding. This probability of this having any real effects is deemed very low, however.