Team:Stony Brook/Safety

Safety

We worked in a BSL-1 lab over the summer, where we were required to wear protective lab coats and gloves while doing our experiments. Before entering the lab, all team members were required to take two online safety courses on biosafety and hazardous waste management. We also attended an in-person safety training course together as a team over the summer.

Our main safety concerns for Apis-Biotics this summer were the environmental and personal risks that our project would pose. Since melittin is a nonspecific, pore-forming cytolytic peptide, there was a chance that it could attack other bacteria or microbes in the environment. To alleviate some of that risk, we developed a biosensor so that our melittin would only be produced in the presence of our target bacteria. In addition, our E.coli has two antibiotic markers, both kanamycin and ampicillin, preventing it from thriving in any environment outside of the lab.