Safety

Safety

Our Commitment to Safety

Safety is at the heart of our iGEM 2025 project. As high school students, we are not only learning new science but also learning how to work responsibly in a laboratory environment. We recognize that synthetic biology has great potential, but it must always be carried out with care, following strict safety rules to protect ourselves, our community, and the environment.

Laboratory Safety Training

General Precautions

Before entering the laboratory, every team member received safety training and orientation. The key rules include:

• Always keep the laboratory clean and wear proper protective equipment (lab coat, indoor shoes, gloves).
• Handle all shared equipment with caution and respect.
• Follow the instructions of our supervisor at all times.
• Perform experiments only according to approved manuals and protocols.
• Double-check reagents to avoid mistakes and prevent contamination.
• No eating or drinking is allowed in the laboratory.
• Clean up thoroughly after each experiment.

Emergency Response

We also studied emergency procedures in case of accidents:

• Chemical exposure:
  • Acid on skin → rinse with water, then wash with sodium bicarbonate solution, rinse again with water.
  • Alkali on skin → rinse with water, then wash with dilute acetic acid, rinse again with water.
  • Chemicals in the eyes → rinse immediately with water and seek medical help.

We understand the importance of quick action and reporting incidents to supervisors.

Biosafety Practices

Biological Materials

• All experiments are conducted using non-pathogenic laboratory strains of E. coli (K-12 derivatives). These are safe organisms approved for teaching and basic research.
• No experiments involve human or animal testing.
• No live cancer cells, patient samples, or hazardous pathogens are used.

Experimental Activities

• Our wet-lab work mainly involves protein expression and purification (MHC Class I heavy chain and β2-microglobulin).
• We also perform safe assays such as SDS-PAGE, BCA protein quantification, and ELISA.
• All waste is disposed of properly following laboratory regulations.

Safe Laboratory Skills

Pipetting Practice

A large part of our safety training focused on learning how to use pipettes correctly:

• Always hold the pipette vertically to avoid inaccurate measurements.
• Avoid touching the container walls to prevent sample loss or contamination.
• Handle very small liquid volumes carefully, since even tiny droplets can cause errors.
• Always pipette slowly and consistently to reduce mistakes.

By practicing with water and dye solutions (methylene blue), we gained confidence in our pipetting skills before handling real samples.

Biosecurity and Dual-Use Awareness

Our project involves engineering MHC Class I proteins, which play a role in immune recognition. While our work is safe, we acknowledge that:

• In theory, misuse of engineered immune proteins could contribute to immune evasion in pathogens or tumors.
• For this reason, we carefully limit our scope:
  • All experiments are in vitro only.
  • No live cells, animals, or pathogens are involved.
  • Work is supervised by trained instructors.
• We also participated in discussions on dual-use concerns and committed to using our research only for positive, educational, and therapeutic purposes.

Our Approach to Responsible Science

To make sure our work remains safe and meaningful, we:

• Consulted official iGEM safety guidelines and our institution's biosafety rules.
• Sought advice from instructors and safety officers.
• Reflected on ethical issues in our Integrated Human Practices work, including risk of misuse and public trust in new therapies.

Conclusion

Our project is designed with safety first. By using only safe laboratory organisms, supervised methods, and following strict safety education, we ensure that our iGEM participation not only teaches us biology but also responsibility. We believe that safety is not just a requirement but a core value of science.