Team:Worldshaper-Shanghai/Safety
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Safety
Safety policies considering
Since urine test is a potential high-quality sample for early diagnosis of prostate cancer in our project, we have done a serious investigation and consultation based on iGEM Safety Policies, including communicate with iGEM safety committee and inquire national laws and regulations of using animal and human samples. We have got that it is possible for a team to use mouse urine or patient urine in a project. However, for animal use, one iGEM project should try to replace, reduce and refine the use of animals; For human samples, our project needs patients’ permission or bioethics approvals. After referring to the domestic laws and relevant safety rules, we finally decided to use synthetic urine as an alternative to further simulate the real environment. Click here for more details about synthetic urine in Proof of concept and Human Practice
Working safely and securely
Our team is in full compliance with iGEM's safety and security policies. We received a series of safety training before entering the lab, all team members are properly trained for all the procedures before starting the experiments. The lab safety rules are as follows：
Personal habits
1.Obey laboratory protection laws including wearing long sleeves lab coats, gloves, and if required, goggles and masks.
2.Do not touch personal stuff with the gloves or other objectives that may be polluted in the lab.
3.Food and drinks should be kept out of laboratories.
4.All experiment procedures should be conducted under the guidance of a qualified instructor including the usage of specialized equipment, operations on lab materials.
5.All experimental equipment shall be operated carefully, and the equipment should be kept under constant surveillance to ensure the instruments will not be damaged.
6.Never try experiments or procedures that you have never practiced or the instructor does not know. When using special instruments, you should make sure that a qualified instructor is near you to offer help.
7.Avoid using electrical instruments when your hands are wet. Close the tap immediately in case of overflow and influencing other procedures.
8.While with your gloves on, don’t touch anything in a non-contamination space.
9.You should wear safety goggles while operating UV transilluminators or gel imaging systems. Protective goggles and face shields should be put on while operating instruments producing ultraviolet radiation.
Some dangerous materials procedure
1.Never intentionally taste or sniff chemicals. Manipulation of chemical materials of inhalation hazards must be done in a chemical fume which helps control exposure as well. Put on safety gear before any experiments involving toxic substances. The reaction should under one’s supervision.
2.Any experiments that involve radioactive materials should be conducted in specific labs, the whole process of the experiment should be under the instructors’ supervision.
3.Culture medium, agarose gel, and all other gels shall not be put into the sink.
4.Waste materials are required to be disposed according to specific safety rules.
To deal with accidents
1.Contact technician at once if any part of equipment breaks or malfunctions while being used.
2.If there is a fire, shut down all electricity, any ignitable things cleared out. Contact agency like fire department at once, if not specified otherwise.
3.Gloves and lab coats are used to protect skin from direct contact with corrosive chemical materials. If an accident happens, clean the injured parts at once and ask for medical advice immediately.
4.When facing a biological spill, take care of experimenters’ skin first. Immediately wash exposed areas of skin with soap and water and seek for medical advice. Afterwards, wipe up and clean the lab bench surface using a suitable disinfectant. Do not let any experimental biological substances leak out of the lab.
Worldshaper-Shanghai 2020
New non-invasive technique for early stage prostate cancer diagnosis