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Team:Northwestern/Safety
From 2014.igem.org
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<p style="padding-top: 40px;">Safety – We got environmental strains and identified a problem for iGEM teams that try to do work like us to do 16sRNA</p> | <p style="padding-top: 40px;">Safety – We got environmental strains and identified a problem for iGEM teams that try to do work like us to do 16sRNA</p> | ||
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<p class="lead"> <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-comment"></span> A large part of our project involved looking to alternative sources for synthetic biology work – non-model strains that behave differently than E. coli that could surpass E. coli in various ways and contribute to new biotechnologies. These non-model organisms may behave better in different environments, handle certain procedures better, or be able to craft larger and more complex proteins than otherwise possible. For them to survive in the environment they must have specialized in some way and our aim was to lay the foundation to tapping into that potential. | <p class="lead"> <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-comment"></span> A large part of our project involved looking to alternative sources for synthetic biology work – non-model strains that behave differently than E. coli that could surpass E. coli in various ways and contribute to new biotechnologies. These non-model organisms may behave better in different environments, handle certain procedures better, or be able to craft larger and more complex proteins than otherwise possible. For them to survive in the environment they must have specialized in some way and our aim was to lay the foundation to tapping into that potential. | ||
When we first collected our environmental samples and cultured them to create lysates, a serious question arose: what if these environmental strains we collected from the lake could kill us? This was a very real safety concern that we quickly had to solve. Luckily Sarah, a graduate student that monitored our progress, had encountered this problem before and introduced us to 16S ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) amplicon analysis, the current standard approach to identifying unknown organisms. | When we first collected our environmental samples and cultured them to create lysates, a serious question arose: what if these environmental strains we collected from the lake could kill us? This was a very real safety concern that we quickly had to solve. Luckily Sarah, a graduate student that monitored our progress, had encountered this problem before and introduced us to 16S ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) amplicon analysis, the current standard approach to identifying unknown organisms. | ||
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<h3> Our Lab </h3> | <h3> Our Lab </h3> | ||
Revision as of 00:15, 18 October 2014
Safety
Safety – We got environmental strains and identified a problem for iGEM teams that try to do work like us to do 16sRNA
A large part of our project involved looking to alternative sources for synthetic biology work – non-model strains that behave differently than E. coli that could surpass E. coli in various ways and contribute to new biotechnologies. These non-model organisms may behave better in different environments, handle certain procedures better, or be able to craft larger and more complex proteins than otherwise possible. For them to survive in the environment they must have specialized in some way and our aim was to lay the foundation to tapping into that potential. When we first collected our environmental samples and cultured them to create lysates, a serious question arose: what if these environmental strains we collected from the lake could kill us? This was a very real safety concern that we quickly had to solve. Luckily Sarah, a graduate student that monitored our progress, had encountered this problem before and introduced us to 16S ribosomal RNA gene (rDNA) amplicon analysis, the current standard approach to identifying unknown organisms. A 16S RNA paper
Our Lab
Our lab was situated on the ground floor of the Technological Institute at Northwestern University's Evanston campus. Thanks to the generosity of Professor Mordacq, we were able to use the Biological Sciences Department's lab space for the entire summer and the fall. The majority of our characterization assays were done in the facilitating Tyo lab.
Every morning, we convened to go over the results of the last day's experiments and discuss the next steps. This is where we had our lab meetings.
We always remember to practice meticulous lab safety!
