Our #1 priority!
The University of Alberta, and the 2023 iGEM UAlberta team prides itself on providing a safe and informed environment that deeply values safe working practices. Not only do we look to promote a safe culture in the lab, but also focus on the safety of the public who will be affected by our work. The policies and initiatives put forward by the University's Environment, Health, and Safety (EHS) Unit are clear in the safety requirements that need to be followed. The EHS guidelines are also in line with Canada's and Alberta's Occupational Health and Safety regulations.
In our laboratory, our team acknowledges the paramount importance of maintaining safety while conducting experiments which involve a range of equipment reagents and synthetic organisms. Before working in the laboratories of Dr. Lisa Stein and Dr. David Stuart, each wet lab member were required to complete lab safety modules and acquire certificates in the following courses provided by EHS.
Experimentations were conducted in the Stein Lab and the Stuart Lab. Both laboratories are equipped with their own important safety characteristics. The following are safety features found within the lab spaces:
As well, a graduate student, or supervisor, was required to give a laboratory tour for any students visiting for the first time. This training was intended to show the location's hazards, special disposal bins, and the laboratory safety features. This training also provided specific instruction concerning safety precautions during routine lab activities. Students performing experiments, and operating in the laboratory, did so under the supervision of qualified advisors.
The laboratories where our team worked are both classified as Containment Level 2. The strains used throughout the duration of our project, E. coli DH5a and Rosetta GAMI, are both Risk Level 1 organisms. Despite this, our team still adhered to the safety requirements of a Level 2 lab:
Our team is composed of many students from different faculties, and levels of lab experience with different levels of comfort performing experiments in the lab. To ensure that all work relevant to our project was done efficiently, safely, and repoducibly, we made sure to write detailed standard operating procedures (SOPs). These SOPs include detailed information on the chemicals used, devices needed, and step-by-step instructions. This enabled our team to work responsibly, and consistently, and most importantly, SAFELY!
You can find our SOPs used in the lab here.
All solutions, plates, and cultures were accurately labeled to ensure proper disposal after use. Agar plates, Eppendorf tubes, and falcon tubes were disposed of in specifically labeled (biohazard) waste bins which were subsequently sterilized via autoclaving. Gels, which either contained or were soaked in ethidium bromide, were disposed of in specifically labeled EtBr waste bins along with the gloves used in the process. The buffer the gels were run in was disposed of in liquid EtBr waste. The EtBr waste was subsequently passed onto HSE to be further processed by the proper experienced professionals.