Team:Glasgow/Safety

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Safety

Most of the following information can also be found on our iGEM Safety Form

Basic Safety

Before beginning work in the lab, we learnt basic lab safety. This included:

• Knowledge of fire exits
• Knowledge of first aid kit location/names of qualified first aiders in the building
• Always wearing a lab coat inside the lab
• Reading and signing the relevant COSHH forms
• How to store flammable/toxic chemicals
• How to dispose of hazardous, and potentially hazardous, waste materials.
• Good microbiological practice, such as sterilisation techniques and correct disposal of biological materials.

Risk Assessments

Alongside the igem safety form, we were also required by the University to complete a GM risk assessment for our labwork. The dry lab team also compiled a risk assessment for their experiments, as they involved electrical devices and liquids in close proximity. Risk assessments were also required for both Science Centre Events.
Genetically Modified Organism RA
Dry Lab RA
Glasgow Science Centre: Explorathon RA

Useful Links

The following are links to the relevant guidelines we had to adhere to:
The University of Glasgow
Main Health and Safety Page
Biological Safety Page
Safety Induction Forms (read and signed by all team members)

Heath and Safety Executive (UK):

Organism and Parts

Current Risks of Our Project

To the Health and Safety of Team Members and/or other Lab Workers
The risks are small to negligible – we are working with the K-12 strain on E.coil, which is genetically crippled to the extend that t cannot survive outside the lab environment (and has also lost its capacity to colonise the mammalian gut). The genes we are inserting into E.coli K12 do not increase its pathogenicity. Despite this, there is still a very small risk that the organism could revert back and/or regain it's ability to colonise. So, we still use rubber gloves and wash our hands when leaving the lab.

To the General Public
Even if any biological materials escaped the lab, the risks are very small. As mentioned previously, the E.coli strain is debilitated. We are not using any other whole organism. The plasmids we are using could get into other strains of bacteria by natural transformations. These strains of bacteria could potentially survive outside the lab. However, none of the genes we are using would make them more pathogenic, though they could make them resistant to some antibiotics.