We are working with E. coli and Shewanella Oneidensis, which are non-pathogenic and well characterized organisms, so our lab is Biosafety level 1. It contains all relevant safety equipment, including an eye wash station, fire extinguishers, fume hoods, and biological safety cabinets. Most work is done on a lab bench or in a biological safety cabinet, which protects both worker and samples from contamination.

Figure 1: Lab safety features/equipment. This picture shows some of the safety features of the lab the 2017 Rice iGEM team is working in. The lab is located in Keck Hall Room 201 at Rice University.

Figure 2: Personal protective equipment. Pictured here is one of lab members, Catherine, all decked out in her personal protective equipment for working with toxic potassium chromate. Lab coat, pants, closed-toe shoes, safety glasses, face mask, double gloves.