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For 10 weeks in the summer, our team worked in a laboratory in the Centers for Molecular Medicine at Stony Brook University. Our lab is certified for BSL 2 and it contains a hood that is licensed for biosafety level 2. For hazardous chemicals, such as ethidium bromide, we worked under a fume hood. As personal protective equipment, the team members all wore nitrile gloves. Ethyl alcohol was utilized as a decontaminant.
To prepare for lab and safety procedures, our lab members took a CITI training course on responsible conduct of research. (https://about.citiprogram.org/en/homepage/). We also took training courses for on chemical hazards, biological hazards, and hazardous waste management through our university for a more in-dept and personalized experience. Such information can be found at: http://ehs.stonybrook.edu/programs/laboratory-safety/. A postdoctoral graduate, Iwasaki Yasuno, was our advisor regarding laboratory safety procedures. Our advisor Dr. Gergen, head of undergraduate biology at Stony Brook, had ensured that we were following BSL-1 safety standards. We are also in contact with professors from the department of marine science at our school, who advise us on lab protocols. Additionally, our project does not have major safety or security concerns, as we are not working with toxins or viruses. Members who were trained in BSL-1 labs gave training and insight to other members on the team.
Risk Group 1 organisms are low risk and do not cause disease in healthy adult humans. For our project, our cyanobacterial strain of Synechococcus leopoliensis UTEX 2434 was obtained from UTEX and is a Risk Group 1 microorganism. We also utilized DH5alpha Escherichia coli obtained from New England Biolabs which are also a Risk Group 1 microorganism.
As our cyanobacteria are non-pathogenic, there is not a large risk for safety. However, the traditional risks associated with antibiotic-resistant organisms apply to our project. If our project is successful, our project could outcompete corn and possibly sugarcane, which may be an ethical concern.