Training

Before entering the laboratories, we have followed the related rules outlined in the “Regulations Governing Management of Infectious Biological Materials” in Taiwan. Personnels in bio-laboratories should attend at least 8 hours of basic education and training courses on bio-safety and bio-security in the first year, and they should pass the tests for these basic education and training courses. All NTHU_Taiwan iGEM wet lab members have participated in the following Laboratory Education and Training Courses provided by the Environmental Protection and Occupational Safety and Health Center at National Tsing Hua University:

1. General Safety and Health training (3hr)
2. Education and Training for Dangerous and Hazardous Chemicals (3hr)
3. General Education Training for Toxic Chemicals (3hr)
4. Biosafety Education and Training (4hr)
5. Biosecurity Education and Training (4hr)

Safe Lab Work

Our project, NanoCircDX, is devoted to the development of an innovative colorectal cancer screening platform. Currently, we are in the stage of validating our concepts to ensure their feasibility. Throughout this stage, our laboratory procedures strictly adhere to the highest safety standards. We do not involve animals or animal samples in our research, nor do we conduct experiments with human samples. Instead, our experiments exclusively utilize DNA materials sourced from reputable entities, including IDT, a distinguished member of the International Gene Synthesis Consortium (IGSC), and Genomics, the foremost commercial genome sequencing company in Taiwan.

While conducting experiments, we have implemented the following safety measures:

1. Always wear appropriate clothing and personal protective equipment, including closed shoes, long pants, and lab coats while in the laboratory.
2. Wear disposable masks and gloves consistently to prevent contamination of our samples.
3. Always open the UV light after using the DNA/RNA UV-cleaner box UVC/T-AR, which provide protection against contamination. UV-radiation from the open lamps disinfects the working area inactivating DNA/RNA fragments during 15-30 min of exposure.
4. Handle acids and base chemicals in the chemical fume hood. Protect the operating personnel from being harmed by chemical substance leakage.
5. Experiments related to the synthesis of gold nanoparticles are conducted exclusively within the Chemical fume hood.
6. Experiments involving DH5-alpha are conducted exclusively within the laminar flow cabinet.
7. Conduct electrophoresis experiments in a separated area.
8. Our laboratory operations are conducted in separated rooms, each categorized by manipulation type. Both laboratory rooms strictly adhere to Level 1 standard microbiological lab safety practices.