Team:GreatBay SCIE/Implementation
Safety Instruction Booklet's Table of Contents by BluePha Lab
Safety is one of the biggest concerns in an iGEM project, and it deserves to be treated carefully. For the general lab safety, we've established lab rules for everyone to follow. As we are working with lethal amatoxins this year, we have researched thoroughly on the internet for safety dealing protocols as well as interviewing toxic mushroom researchers for primary, expert opinions.
General Lab Safety
Our laboratory managers have created a file including all the lab safety instructions and general experiment protocols. Every one of us had to pass a written safety exam as well as the basic experiment operation test before we started WetLab.
Handling lethal mushroom toxins
We have never used mushroom toxins in our school's past years iGEM projects, nor did anyone in our lab. Therefore, we were expecially careful on the use of toxins, and we consulted professionals who did experiment with amatoxins - Professor Deng from Guangdong Institute of Microbiology, and Dr. Candace Bever, the author of one of the core literatures we reviewed.
"The toxin is not lethal through touching," Professor Deng said, "you just need to make sure no one accidently swallow them." As for the disposal, she suggested to use a specific disposal bin for waste collection and contact toxin-dealing companies to help us handle them.
Interview with Dr. Deng >
"Lethal Toxin" warning sign
To the right is the "lethal toxin" sign we designed for disposal bins, electrophoresis troughs, and other containers that is carrying even very small doses of mushroom toxin, as warnings for people who shared a lab with us. We had a warning line separating the normal laboratory areas and places for toxin experiments.
Dr. Bever suggested us to look up the signs and symptoms of mushroom poisoning, so that we know if we accidently get poisoned: the signs and symptoms are not going to be immediate - they would happen 6 to 12 hours after ingestion, when vomiting and diarrhoea starts. "It is probably lethal if you breathe it in in dust form, so get it in a solution as fast as possible" said Dr. Bever.
Interview with Dr. Bever >
During Experimentations
The following precautions must be made before conducting experiments involving the toxins:
- Wear closed-toe shoes
- Wear long pants
- Wear formal lab coats
- Long hair must be tied up
- Wear gloves
- Wear goggles
- Wear facemasks
- Make sure no skin is exposed to air
- Absolutely no food or drink in lab areas
- Make sure experiments are supervised at all times
- Make sure all containers are closely sealed and will not leak
And the following must be done after experiments:
- Dispose one-time gloves and facemasks into designated trash bins. Make sure they do not come in contact with your skin while taking off
- Wash hands and face thoroughly, for at least 5 minutes
- Change clothes after experiments