Questions tagged [safety]

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What could those shiny spots on the walnut kernels be?

I bought the shelled walnuts — many were mouldy — but those small round reflective spots don't look like mould (ascomycetes). It reminds more of E.coli colonies. I couldn't find anything on the net ...
Damocle Damoclev's user avatar
1 vote
1 answer
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Risk with cultures taken from stagnating water?

Necessary foreword: I'm an amateur and just starting with microscopy and microbiology. Wanting to observe some protozoa, I collected samples of dirt and water from some pools here in the city and ...
Gabriele's user avatar
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What happens if you don't comply with BSL standards?

I understand that if you work with agents regulated by the FSAP, you are required to comply with biosafety standards by federal law and there are inspections to enforce this. But for those not working ...
Naevia's user avatar
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How cone snail collection is done safely and legally?

I'm really intrigued by the hobby of cone snail collection. However, some cone snails are known to be venomous and dangerous to humans, so how are they freely available for purchase and traded online? ...
Nederealm's user avatar
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1 answer
122 views

Safety of Covid-19 vaccine for pregnant women

Is there any possibility that the protein produced by COVID-19 mRNA vaccine taken into body could cause negative effect for unborn babies? In particular, isn't it possible the protein could be used as ...
HQMA's user avatar
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5k views

What was the breakthrough behind the “sudden” feasibility of mRNA vaccines in 2020?

Several sources describe the initial failures in the realization of a successful mRNA vaccine. E.g., this 2017 article from Stat describes the following problem faced by Moderna while working on one ...
hb20007's user avatar
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For how long viruses survive in non-air moisture environments?

On the Internet there are plenty of information that viruses don't live long after they were exposed to air, after they starting to dry out. But it's hard to find an information on how long viruses ...
R S's user avatar
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What are the standard bio-safety protocols for preparing plant pathology herbarium specimina?

What are the standard bio-safety protocols for preparing plant pathology herbarium specimina? I searched google but I did not found anything relevant, nor in my textbooks. I want to know about what ...
Always Confused's user avatar
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265 views

Is there any biosafety level scale for plant pathogens?

Biosafety levels commonly defined on basis of human/animal pathogens, but what would be the biosafety levels for plant pathogens?
Always Confused's user avatar
1 vote
0 answers
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Are olfactive indicators always the result of inadequacy in sanitation?

Question If you can smell the scent of food in a thoroughly cleaned container, does that imply trace amounts of food particles remain? Scope It goes without saying that our sense of smell is ...
Arctiic's user avatar
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3 votes
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What are the safety precautions I should take if I want to experiment with C. elegans (at home)?

Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans) is a nematode (roundworm), and many nematodes do infect humans and cause diseases. How much is C. elegans safe (or unsafe) in this respect? C.elegans is a popular ...
Code Complete's user avatar
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Amount of animals to use for animal trials [closed]

I am working on an independent research project involving animal models. I am unsure how to deterine how many animals (rats) to use for the project. The rats will be injected with different solutions ...
Hypnos Stratagem's user avatar
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1 answer
326 views

Can one type of bacteria cause several diseases? [closed]

If yes. Does it change its shape in every disease, or does it remain in the same shape and cause several diseases?
Asma MENAI's user avatar
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1 answer
497 views

Use lab agar for cooking [closed]

Our lab manager suspect that something wrong with our lab Bacto agar (Difco). So she decide to throw it to the garbage. I think that it's just a waste to throw that thing. Can someone think of reason ...
Moshe's user avatar
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10 votes
2 answers
5k views

Is working with (nitrile) gloves around a bunsen burner safe?

Recently I have started in a new microbiology lab, and with a new lab come new habits. When I was working with my bacterial (liquid) culture next to the flame (Bunsen burner) wearing nitrile gloves, ...
Sincinkybaju's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
511 views

293T safety, transfections with plasmid DNA

I am a little concerned with 293T cell lines, I have been working with this cell line for a few years with less frequency. However there were times that i extracted the proteins from these cell lines ...
P M's user avatar
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1 answer
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Irradiation instead of pasteurization?

Can we just replace pasteurization with simple irradiation for most (if not all) foods? (For example, such as milk, to sterilize and preserve flavors)
ManRow's user avatar
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7 votes
4 answers
355 views

DNA as a digital storage medium; sequences algorithmically avoided for safety reasons (or should be)?

Safety for the environment is probably implicit here as well, but the focus should be on the people who may come in contact with large amounts of synthetic DNA used to encode information as a data ...
uhoh's user avatar
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-2 votes
3 answers
116 views

Food safety during roadtrips [closed]

I will be moving across the country in the coming weeks, and I have realised that I will likely have leftover perishable food in my apartment before I leave and I was thinking of trying to prepare ...
Bob's user avatar
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3 votes
0 answers
296 views

Is Near-infrared focused light safe for your eyes?

I found a new product, but I'm afraid it's not safe. Can you help me understand what the safety limits are when it comes to near-infrared light focused on your eyes is? I'm assuming the wavelength ...
MetaStack's user avatar
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1 vote
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Is it safe to consume foods that are hot enough to scald your skin if you touch it with your hands?

Coffee is usually served at temperatures that would burn your hands if it spilled on it. Is the inside of your mouth not affected by the same biological process as that which causes your skin to burn?...
larry909's user avatar
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2 votes
0 answers
403 views

Pressure produced by blowing with mouth

I need some figures on the pressure humans are capable blowing with their mouth with zero flow. I only need very approximate figures. I'm guessing around 500mm of water? I haven't got a tube handy to ...
Jodes's user avatar
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2 votes
1 answer
1k views

What dangers would the wireless transmission of power through microwaves pose to living organisms?

If we were one day able to harness the power of "wireless electricity", and INTEGRATE it into society, what disadvantages and/or dangers to living organisms would become relevant at that point? To my ...
marcbally's user avatar
2 votes
2 answers
296 views

Career progression through biosafety levels?

Does a career in infectious disease typically progress through biosafety levels, or do people select one and specialize their training in procedures specific to those hazards? That is, say Dr. ...
jzx's user avatar
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1 answer
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When did mouth pipetting stop becoming a way to handle liquids in a lab?

Almost all modern lab protocols have an addendum prohibiting pipetting by mouth, instead mandating that a Gilson pipette, a rubber pipette ball, or a serological Pipet-Aid be used. However, it was ...
March Ho's user avatar
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3 votes
2 answers
824 views

Cell line immortalisation biosafety

Cell lines are often immortalised by artificial expression of proteins which specifically cause the knockout of important cancer suppression genes or the activation of proto-oncogenes. Cellular ...
March Ho's user avatar
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5 votes
1 answer
173 views

Do DNA supply houses maintain a watch list for dangerous oligos (Anthrax, Smallpox, etc.)?

The recent work by DeLoache, et al. on a synthetic opiate-precursor production pathway in yeast has generated a lot of scare stories in the media about people homebrewing heroin as easily as they ...
tel's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
8k views

Wearing sunglasses during a solar eclipse [closed]

Note: I had asked this on Physics, but it is off-topic there due to being about safety. On the BBC's guide to eclipse-watching, Dr Lucie Green says: Watching an eclipse with normal sunglasses ...
binaryfunt's user avatar
1 vote
2 answers
2k views

How to safely sterilize urea-containing growth medium?

I'm using urea-containing growth medium for experiments with bacteria (1-2 l/day). After the experiment, the growth medium has to be sterilized and disposed. I did this so far by autoclaving, but our ...
Dominik's user avatar
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7 votes
2 answers
6k views

Why is blood removed from meat? [closed]

Blood is removed from meat before it is consumed. Below is, for example, how chickens are processed from Wikipedia. Removed from transport cages Hung by the legs on a shackle, mounted on a conveyor ...
AndroidPenguin's user avatar
5 votes
1 answer
923 views

Safety of using industrial water for hand washing

Industrial water taps are present in most biology laboratories I have been too. There are accompanied by a sign stating "do not drink". So obviously it is not a good idea to drink it. However I ...
Jealie's user avatar
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2 answers
12k views

Just how dangerous is ethidium bromide?

A common precaution for preparing EtBr-agarose gels is to add EtBr only after the gel solution has cooled somewhat, because EtBr is a dangerous mutagen. Supposedly, adding it to a hot liquid allows ...
Superbest's user avatar
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10 votes
1 answer
2k views

How do I put on a labcoat?

Let's assume I am wearing a labcoat for two reasons: Prevent the various bacteria, proteins, skin cells and substances on my clothes and my skin from contaminating my experiments. Prevent various ...
Superbest's user avatar
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6 votes
4 answers
694 views

What kind of microscope for ML/biological research?

I am a computer science student, focusing on machine learning applications. I have been always interested in biology but I lack any training in it. Now, I had an idea that I could introduce myself to ...
bio's user avatar
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11 votes
3 answers
18k views

Can a carnivorous animal consume plants with no adverse effects?

While I know that in nature, carnivorous animals are poorly suited to eat plants (largely due to having sharp teeth, not grinding teeth, as far as I know), I was wondering if, in an emergency ...
The Ugly's user avatar
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4 votes
1 answer
3k views

Why do carrots spoil so fast?

The carrots we buy from a supermarkets spoil very fast, albeit giving many consumers a false sense of preservability due to their structural rigidity. The answer extends to many other vegetables many ...
Lorenz Lo Sauer's user avatar
4 votes
2 answers
3k views

Neutralizing TCA washes [closed]

Trichloroacetic Acid (TCA) is commonly used for protein precipitation but the wash waste needs to be neutralized prior to disposal. What exactly is required to effectively neutralize TCA waste? Do I ...
bobthejoe's user avatar
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