 "This lab has given us more breathing room," said Bhalerao. "It
didn't take long to grow out of our previous space. Students were
making schedules, ‘You work in the morning, I'll work at night,' and
it was still very crowded."Now Bhalerao's students can work
together if they wish, with a variety of equipment that remains set
up, such as an electronics workbench and a microscopy suite.
There are four levels for biosafety laboratories, and they come
with increasing levels of precautions and security measures. In a
BSL 2 lab, personnel can handle pathogenic (capable of causing
disease) material of moderate potential hazard to personnel and the
environment, including various bacteria and viruses, such as
hepatitis A or B, influenza A, Lyme disease, salmonella, mumps, or
measles.
Bhalerao listed some of the equipment, supplies and facility
requirements necessary in a BSL 2 laboratory:
"You must have a certified biosafety cabinet, which means it has
negative air flow. That assures that anything that might be spilled
or creates a spray will not come out at you; it will go up into the
filter. (Bhalerao's lab has two of these cabinets.) We also have to
have an autoclave that is tested on a regular basis, containers for
disposing glassware and sharps, lab coats, and safety equipment,
like eyewear and gloves."
Restricted access is another requirement for the lab, which
Bhalerao appreciates.
"We have some very nice equipment here, like the $60,000
spectrophotometer. We sometimes have guests coming to use that,
which is good, but having restricted access allows me to keep a
closer eye on things," he said.
Students working in the lab are required to go through two safety
courses online, one for general lab safety and one to understand
biosafety.
[to top of second column] |
"They need to be aware that there are materials they handle that
are potentially pathogenic to humans," said Bhalerao, "so for
instance, they learn about spill procedures. If there's a chemical
or a biological spill, what do you do?"
Bhalerao requires a third course, specific to his lab. "This
gives them instructions on such things as where the spill kit is
located, what the exit plans are and who to contact," he said. "It's
important to place that kind of responsibility on the students. It
keeps them a little bit scared, and a little bit scared is a good
thing."
Bhalerao emphasized the importance of having enough space for
students to work together. "When they are in the lab at the same
time, they ask each other questions, they solve each other's
problems, they get lunch together. It helps their synergy," he said.
"They are enthused about each other's ideas and more productive."
He said the new lab also greatly enhances the ability to
collaborate with colleagues from other universities or departments
across campus. "We've had meetings in the lab to show what we have
and what we can do. That opens up opportunities to work together."
The lab is currently being used for a variety of research
projects spanning synthetic biology, environmental impacts of
nanotechnology, and sensors and instrumentation development for
plant and animal agriculture.
"I'm truly thankful for this wonderful asset that the department
has provided," Bhalerao concluded.
[Text from file received from the
University of Illinois College of Agricultural, Consumer and
Environmental Sciences] |
