Safety

Prior to entering the laboratory, all team members completed safety training through a virtual laboratory platform. Every team member must thoroughly understand the experimental objectives, requirements, fundamental principles, and operational procedures before commencing any work. Before using any laboratory equipment or instruments, it is mandatory to familiarize oneself with their performance specifications, standard operating protocols, and specific safety precautions. Our comprehensive safety measures include the following aspects:

• Training and Education: Regular safety training sessions are conducted for all laboratory personnel to ensure the team is well-versed in safety protocols and emergency procedures.
• Emergency Equipment: We ensure the locations of emergency equipment, such as eyewash stations, safety showers, fire extinguishers, and first-aid kits, are known to all, and we routinely check that they are fully operational and in good condition.
• Personal Protective Equipment (PPE): In addition to gloves and lab coats, safety goggles, masks, or other PPE are worn as required by the specific experiment. Gloves must be worn during experimental procedures. While wearing gloves, individuals must not touch their own or others' exposed skin, nor handle non-experimental items (e.g., water bottles, mobile phones). Gloves must be removed before leaving the laboratory or touching communal areas potentially contacted by others (e.g., door handles, elevator buttons). Lab coats must be worn at all times within the laboratory and removed upon exit, ensuring they are never worn in public areas.
• Waste Disposal: Laboratory waste, including used experimental microbial strains, is disposed of according to established protocols. Biological waste is sterilized prior to unified disposal and transport to designated collection points.
• Laboratory Entry: Access to the laboratory is restricted to trained personnel only. Eating and drinking are strictly prohibited in the lab. All experiments must be performed strictly in accordance with standard operating procedures.
• Laboratory Exit: Before leaving, personnel must tidy their workstations, clean the laboratory area, and verify that all instruments and equipment are either switched off or left in a safe operating state.

Our team consistently adheres to these safety measures to minimize risks, protect the safety of ourselves and others, and maintain a secure laboratory environment.

The biocatalytic dyeing platform developed in this project, based on tyrosinase (TyrBm), utilizes non-toxic starting materials like Boc-L-tyrosine to generate melanin-like pigments via enzymatic oxidation. The entire reaction occurs under mild conditions (neutral pH, room temperature) and involves no heavy metals, carcinogenic aromatic amines, or organic solvents, thereby eliminating health risks at the source. The final product is a bio-sourced pigment with excellent biocompatibility and biodegradability, posing no risk of cumulative toxicity to the skin or the environment.

This technology employs synthetic biology to construct a TyrBm-based biocatalytic dyeing platform. It utilizes engineered bacteria to express a TyrBm-CipA fusion protein, which catalyzes the oxidation of tyrosine derivatives to produce non-toxic, melanin-like pigments. This approach fundamentally avoids the risks associated with traditional synthetic dyes, such as the potential release of carcinogenic aromatic amines and heavy metals. The entire production process operates without the need for high temperature, high pressure, or strong acids/bases, significantly reducing energy consumption and pollution load. It not only prevents the generation of high-salinity, highly acidic, or highly alkaline wastewater, substantially easing wastewater treatment challenges, but also minimizes biocatalyst consumption and waste generation through the reusability of the immobilized enzyme (the TyrBm-CipA fusion protein can catalyze multiple reaction cycles). The entire process aligns with the principles of green chemistry and is dedicated to promoting the transition of the textile dyeing industry towards a circular economy model. From raw materials and reaction processes to the final product, safety and sustainable design are thoroughly integrated, offering an efficient dyeing alternative while minimizing potential risks to the environment and human health.