Safety header

Overview

BU iGEM prioritized safety at every stage of the project. Our team followed established biosafety protocols and maintained strict lab practices to ensure a safe research environment. This included appropriate use of personal protective equipment, proper waste disposal, and adherence to BU Environmental Health and Safety (EHS) and BSL-2 guidelines. Beyond the lab, we also considered the safe implementation of our final product, FloraDX. We emphasized responsible handling, sterilization, and disposal of any components used in the field. Additionally, we planned for secure data management and user training to ensure that FloraDX could be deployed safely and effectively in real-world settings.

Figure 1. Raven cleaning the bench
Figure 2. Fume Hood

Lab Safety Practices

Given the nature of our work, we recognized the potential danger working with isolated and genetically engineered microbes escaping the lab could carry. To ensure proper handling of these microbes, our team took the following measures:

  • Sterilization of workbench with 70% ethanol before and after use
  • Appropriate PPE, including close toed shoes, long pants, lab coats, goggles, and gloves
  • Dispose of biowaste and sharps in appropriate disposal bins
  • Dispose of cultures by adding bleach to 10% of the culture volume and waiting 25 min

    • We maintained a safe lab environment by closely following protocols laid out by BU EHS and BSL-2 guidelines, which included:

  • Lab access and rules
  • Emergency showers
  • Eyewash stations
  • First aid kits
  • Regular fire drills

    • Safe Implementation of FloraDX

    As FloraDX carries microbes the user interacts with, we chose Escherichia col BL21 as a non-pathogenic chassis. Escherichia coli BL21 is a benign organism that is not considered pathogenic or toxigenic to humans, animals, or plants. Additionally, our constructs utilized genes that have not been identified as carrying risks with mutation, overexpression, or underexpression. To contain our biosensor within our device, we designed a waste handling system to bleach the microbiomes for at least 30 min before disposal.

    Data Security

    Data privacy and security is of utmost importance to us. Through our Human Practice conversations and our surveys, we understood that data safety was vitally significant to our users. Consequently, we chose to ensure transparency in how data is collected, stored, and used.

    Future Directions

    To improve on FlordaDX’s biocontainment system, we plan to introduce a kill switch within our genetic constructs. Adding a kill switch will ensure that outside the FlordaDX’s device environment, our genetically modified microbes are not viable.