SAFETY
Laboratory Safety
All team members safety is our primary concern. We have implemented comprehensive safety protocols to ensure a secure working environment in our laboratory.
All team members received safety training before entering the laboratory. To remind everyone of safety procedures during experiments, safety signs are posted throughout the laboratory. Specific instructions for equipment use are indicated on relevant experimental instruments, such as waste tanks for discarding special liquids.
Flammable liquids such as ethanol are stored in specially designed safety cabinets.
The gas cylinders are all stored in safe gas cylinder cabinets, with information labels attached, and regular safety inspections are conducted.
Project Safety
We have carefully selected our biological components to ensure our project meets the highest safety standards for synthetic biology research.
Our chassis bacterium Cupriavidus necator H16 (also known as Ralstonia eutropha H16) is widely recognized in the scientific community as a non-pathogenic, environmentally isolated bacterium with a strong biosafety profile. It has been extensively studied for decades and is not associated with disease in humans, animals, or plants.
Its safety is further supported by its classification in international culture collections such as the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC 17699), where it is listed as a Biosafety Level 1 (BSL-1) organism. This designation confirms that it is not known to cause disease in healthy humans and can be handled under basic laboratory containment conditions.
Additionally, its natural metabolic characteristics do not involve toxin production or virulence factors, reinforcing its suitability for biotechnological and synthetic biology applications. In our project, the engineered bacteria will also not produce toxins or cause diseases.