Lab Safety
Work Environment
We arranged a room on the campus KU Leuven near the UZ Hospital Gasthuisberg, which is close to the lab. Despite it being a small room, we make sure that there is always plenty of food and drinks for us.
Patch Clamping
With the patch clamp, we have to make sure we are always earthed or else the risk of getting an electricity shock is higher. Also, we have to make sure that no buffers can be dripped onto the microscope lens such that damage can be prevented. We also have to make sure that we keep our needles in the needle box, in case someone could get injuries. For the agarose gel, we have to take in account that we are using SyberSafe which means we have to keep working in a toxic zone when it is used. Make sure that all the rubber gloves are taken off after using SyberSafe and all the used equipment are kept in the toxic zone.
General Safety
Every member of the iGEM KU Leuven Team 2017 received an introduction to lab safety at the beginning of July. Some general rules include:
- • No eating and drinking in the lab
- • Wearing lab coats in cell culture lab, rubber gloves and safety goggles when needed
- • Use the assigned lab coats when entering the bacterial culture lab
- • Cleaning after work with 70% ethanol and autoclaving glasses
- • Washing hands before leaving the lab
Minimizing Risks
We have different lab rooms for cell culture and bacterial culture. Only a few members are granted access to the cell culture and a few to the bacterial culture and the cell and bacterial culture can only be worked with by those members. In the bacterial lab, we have to put on lab coats that are only used for working with bacteria.