1. Personal Protective Equipment (PPE)​​

Always wear appropriate PPE, including a ​​lab coat​​, ​​safety goggles​​, and ​​gloves​​. Wear ​​closed-toe shoes​​ and avoid loose clothing, jewelry, or open-toed footwear. Tie back long hair.

​​2. Chemical Safety​​

Treat all chemicals as potentially hazardous. ​​Read Safety Data Sheets (SDS)​​ before use. ​​Never smell, taste, or directly handle​​ chemicals. Use ​​fume hoods​​ for volatile substances and ensure all containers are ​​clearly labeled​​. Store chemicals according to compatibility.

​​3. Emergency Preparedness​​

Know the locations of ​​emergency equipment​​: eyewash stations, safety showers, fire extinguishers, and first aid kits. Familiarize yourself with ​​evacuation routes​​ and procedures. Report all accidents or injuries immediately.

​​4. General Conduct​​

​​ No eating, drinking, or smoking​​ in the lab. Keep workspaces ​​clean and uncluttered. Avoid ​​distractions, horseplay, or working alone​​ on hazardous procedures. Never leave active experiments unattended.

1. Autoclave

The autoclave is operated by a qualified teacher. Autoclave uses high pressure and high temperatures to sterilize equipment and materials, impropriate usage might lead to safety issues

2. Clean bench

The clean bench is disinfected with ultraviolet light before use and ventilated during use. Disinfecting with ultraviolet light helps eliminate microbial contamination, ensuring a sterile environment for sensitive experiments.

3. Electrophoresis instrument

When using the electrophoresis instrument, ensure that no liquid splashes onto the electrodes. Electrical components can malfunction or short-circuit when exposed to liquids.

4. Centrifuge

When using the centrifuge, balance it and confirm that the rotational speed of the centrifuge does not exceed its maximum speed. An unbalanced centrifuge can lead to excessive vibration, equipment failure, or even catastrophic failure of the rotor. Exceeding the maximum speed can risk rotor failure, potentially leading to injury or damage. Proper balancing and speed regulation ensure safe and effective centrifugation.

5. Oven

The oven has not been left on overnight. Leaving the oven on overnight poses a significant fire hazard and can lead to equipment overheating or malfunction.

1. E. coli

In our project, we use two non-pathogenic E. coli strains, both classified as Risk Group 1. E. coli TOP10 is Used for high-efficiency plasmid cloning and amplification, known for its plasmid stability and high copy number. E. coli Origami (DE3) is used for protein expression, especially suitable for proteins containing disulfide bonds, due to its enhanced cytoplasmic oxidative environment. It works well with pET32a vector for efficient folding and expression. These strains pose minimal risk to human health or the environment and are used strictly within contained laboratory settings.

1. NIH/3T3 cell

We use NIH/3T3 mouse embryonic fibroblast cells for cytotoxicity testing of our allergy treatment components. This cell line is non-tumorigenic, non-infectious, and classified as Risk Group 1. All experiments are conducted under BSL-1 conditions, using sterile techniques in biosafety cabinets. Biological waste (cells, media) is autoclaved or disinfected before disposal. No viral vectors are involved.

1. Hypoallergenic Vaccines

⭐ Reduced risk of anaphylaxis

Immunotherapy offers a transformative approach to allergy treatment by inducing immunological tolerance. Unlike natural allergens used traditionally—which can trigger severe IgE-mediated reactions like anaphylactic shock—our vaccine utilizes hypoallergenic allergen derivatives. These are genetically modified recombinant proteins with disrupted IgE-binding epitopes, virtually eliminating the risk of severe allergic reactions and ensuring significantly enhanced safety during treatment.

⭐ Non-Toxic & environmentally safe

The modified allergen genes (mphl p1, mBet v1, mDer p1, mDer p2, mMet e1, mCyp c1) are strictly recombinant and non-pathogenic. They pose no toxicity to humans, animals, or ecosystems. Even in the unlikely event of environmental release, these sequences cannot replicate or cause harm, guaranteeing inherent biological safety.

2. Microneedle Delivery System

⭐ Minimally invasive & Low-Risk

Our microneedles painlessly penetrate the skin’s surface layers, creating microchannels too small to cause significant tissue damage or bleeding. This minimizes trauma, accelerates healing, and dramatically reduces infection risk compared to conventional needles.

⭐ Fully degradable & Eco-Friendly

The microneedles are fabricated from biocompatible hydrogel that harmlessly dissolves within the body after vaccine delivery. The backing patch is also made of biodegradable materials, leaving no persistent waste and ensuring zero environmental burden.

Activity safety

When conducting the DNA extraction practical activity for middle school students, we provided safety training to the participants and assigned experienced laboratory teachers to guide them, ensuring the safety of the activity. All DNA samples were only used for on-site teaching demonstrations and were not retained or subjected to any form of secondary analysis.

Personal Privacy Safety

When conducting online and offline expert interviews, ensuring the security of personal privacy is the core ethical principle. Before the start of the activity, we clearly agreed with the experts on the scope, purpose, duration of the use of their portraits (including images and videos), as well as whether post-editing was allowed. At the same time, the public level of the experts' viewpoints and information shared was defined, specifying which content could be publicly cited and which could only be used as background information or for internal research. All interview materials were finally reviewed and confirmed with the experts before use

1. About online and offline interviews

⭐ Nature of Activities and Risk Assessment

Our activities include: online and offline questionnaires, expert interviews (both online and offline), street interviews in public shopping malls, and on-site inspections of companies. A comprehensive risk assessment was conducted for all activities that required face-to-face interaction (such as street interviews and company visits) to minimize potential risks, such as slips, overcrowding, or general safety issues during travel. All team members are familiar with the emergency plan.

⭐ Ethical compliance and informed consent:

For street interviews and expert interviews, we obtained verbal consent and recorded it before proceeding. All participation was voluntary, and participants could withdraw at any time without any penalty. For expert interviews, we obtained permission to record and document the discussion content for our iGEM project.

⭐ Data privacy and protection:

We strictly adhered to data privacy principles. During data analysis and presentation, all collected data (responses to questionnaires, interview records) were anonymized. No personal identity information was stored or disclosed on our wiki pages or presentation content.

2. About education activity

⭐ General Safety & Risk Assessment

Activities (Garden Party, kindergarten visits, etc.) were held in approved venues (classrooms, event halls) with institutional permissions. Risk assessments were performed to mitigate hazards (e.g., tripping, allergies). Emergency protocols were established.

⭐ No Biohazardous Materials

No engineered organisms, DNA, or hazardous chemicals were used. Strawberry DNA extraction employed safe kitchen substances (soap, salt, ethanol) under supervision.

⭐ Safe Educational Materials

All materials (board games, comics, puzzles) were non-toxic and child-safe (paper, cardboard, water-based inks).

All our Integrated Human Practices (IHP) and education activities were designed and conducted in full compliance with iGEM Safety Policy and standard ethical guidelines for public engagement. The safety of all participants, team members, and the public was our highest priority. This demonstrates our commitment to safe, ethical, and inclusive public engagement.