Team:RHIT/Safety
Safety
The synthetic biology and tissues laboratory at Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology was where all experimentation and handling of any organisms took place over the course of 2017 iGEM season. These labs were set up as enhanced biosafety level one labs.
All organisms and parts used were biosafety one level certified according the the NIH biosafety guidelines. All new parts were created synthetically using Integrated DNA Technologies’ synthesizing services.
Organisms handled:
- E. coli strains
- NEB DH5α Competent Cells
- MG1655 (DH3) - Prather Strain #: 663
The DH3 mutation integrates Lambda DE3 into the chromosome. This mutation encodes T7 RNA polymerase. This specific mutation was not relevant to the project, and was used as a substitution for the parent strain MG1655
Organisms from which parts were derived:
- Lactobacillus casei
- Bacillus subtilis
- Streptococcus mutans*
- Thermoanaerobacter tengcongensis
- Escherichia coli K-12 substrain MG1655
*Note that the form of Streptococcus bacteria used- S. mutans- is a biosafety one organism in the NIH database -unlike its relatives.
Uncommon reagents used were the Leucovorin Calcium (tetrahydrofolate calcium salt) and Cyanocobalamin. MSDS pages were consulted, and these reagents were solely handled in the chemical hood before being placed into solutions. Traditional personal protective equipment were used at all times during the handling of these two reagents. Extra care was taken to avoid inhalation of Leucovorin Calcium when not solvated.
