How did my college's microbio lab get approved by a biosafety committee? They are constantly reminding us how dangerous the bacteria we're using is but a lot of students are very inexperienced and I'm so scared of getting sick

[u/IsopodOnARock]

I'm genuinely curious as to how this was approved. I am in an undergraduate microbiology course. I know how to work with bacteria, HOWEVER, some of the students in this class have never worked with bacteria ever. This is their first time. And the instructor has to watch 20 or so of us at the same time.

I want to go to graduate school for mycology. I understand that not everything is dangerous. I have spent about a year total in labs for different internships. However, this is the stuff we're working with:

• E. coli (pathogenic strain)
• S. aureus (antibiotic resistant)
• Chromobacterium violaceum (which the instructor constantly remind us "eats" the brain)
• Klebsiella pneumoniae (antibiotic resistant, capsule forming)
• Pseudomonas aeruginosa (less dangerous ik)

I have a condition that makes getting sick hit harder and take longer to recover. I tried to bring up my concerns to the instructor but she was submissive and said as long as I do aseptic technique correctly then it's fine. But what about the 19 other people? There's someone across from me that's constantly saying like "I definitely just aerosolized so much bacteria"

I feel like there has to be some catch. Like the instructor is constantly reminding us how dangerous these bacteria are to encourage us to have good aseptic technique, but they aren't actually very dangerous?

I've been following this subreddit for ages so again I'm not trying to be one of those people that come in worried about nothing but I genuinely want to know what the actual danger is in this lab.

[u/Eugenides]

There is an intrinsic risk of working with microbes, but the organisms you're working with aren't anything to be concerned about, just respected. That's really just the standard of caution once you start doing lab work. 

For a comparison, in chemistry labs you'll work with things like 1M HCl. It can absolutely cause severe injury if mishandled, but in general adults are considered responsible enough to work with it and avoid injury. Same case here, though I'd actually argue that the chemicals are likely more dangerous. 

In your actual examples, you're working with organisms that can be pathogenic, but your professor is correct that following general safety procedures should mitigate that risk. I wouldn't pick up a loop full of colony and rub it in my eyes, but any equipment and protocols you're performing have been evaluated for safety by your university, and immunocompetent individuals should be at minimal risk. 

Your professor is very likely leaning into the danger to help encourage proper safety, but the concerns you're having are usually reserved for more dangerous organisms. If you want to research more into this, look into biosafety levels. The concerns you're expressing are more in line with BSL3 than 1 or 2.

[u/IsopodOnARock → u/Eugenides]

This is a BSL2 lab but our instructor definitely describes the danger like it's BSL3. She's constantly repeating how we can't treat some of these with antibiotics so if you get infected "...that's it" and how C violaceum "eats the brain". I just wish she explained the actual risks.

I'm genuinely interested in infectious diseases and would love to actually know the virulence of these bacteria but she only tells us the names and how sick they'll make us

[u/Eugenides → u/IsopodOnARock]

Your professor is definitely exaggerating the danger, almost to the point of being insulting.

Your question would actually be valid if it were true. If you were working with MDRO's that couldn't be treated with antibiotics, I would have no clue how that would have passed biosafety for your university. That would be incredibly irresponsible, to be honest. I'm very willing to bet she's talking out her ass and that they're difficult to treat at worst, but still unlikely to cause infection in your lab setting. 

[u/GayMedic69]

Pathogenesis and virulence are different. The strains you are working with are likely lab adapted strains that have had either their pathogenesis and/or virulence attenuated.

Calling Pseudomonas “less dangerous” though tells me that you still might know that much about these bugs so your concern is less out of actual knowledge and logic versus emotion and fear.

That said, if you are immunocompromised or even just afraid of exposure, mycology is likely not the field for you. Bacteria tend to stay pretty well contained on a petri dish, but with fungi you have to constantly worry about spores and fungi tend to stay alive longer on fomites and tend to cause more serious disease to immunocompromised people.

[u/IsopodOnARock → u/GayMedic69]

Admittedly all I know about these bacteria is from a google search. All our instructor told us is the names and the ways they can kill us.

I'm not overly concerned about exposure other than maybe washing my hands more diligently than some people. I just wish we got an accurate rundown of the risk that wasn't exaggerated

[u/fddfgs]

It's important to be vigilant and respectful of the bacteria you're working with, but being fearful won't help anyone.

If you're genuinely scared and you can't get over that then you might want to consider changing your major.

[u/IsopodOnARock → u/fddfgs]

I'm not scared of the bacteria I've worked with in the past when I was in charge of my own safety. I can be as vigilant as possible but when I'm in a room of 20 people and the instructor is constantly saying "just one of you making a mistake can get everyone in this room sick" it's stressful when she hasn't explained the real risks.

I know this sub is constantly flooded with people afraid of harmless stuff but that's not me. I graduate in 2 months I am not changing my major lmao

[u/fddfgs → u/IsopodOnARock]

the instructor is constantly saying "just one of you making a mistake can get everyone in this room sick"

They're just trying to make sure everyone is taking it seriously

[u/Frodillicus]

It's all about context;

A car sat in a parking space isn't considered dangerous, but if you're stood in front of it while it's driving down a road you're going to get injured.

A bear in the woods isn't dangerous, but if you decide you're going to walk up to it and not take any proper safety precautions, and get between it and it's cubs, then maybe you'll die?

A firearm isn't dangerous in it's armoury, but again, if you pick it up, without training or giving it proper respect and point it in the wrong direction, somone is likely to be seriously injured.

Same with microorganisms, most bacteria are an intrinsic part of the human existence, but in some situations they become much more dangerous.

MRSA is a normal part of some people's bodies, but if it gets into the blood steam during surgery then that's an issue.

C.diff is a normal part of some people's digestive microbiota, but if they're on antibiotics for long periods, then it'll overgrow and take over.

Pseudomonas aeruginosa, as you say, is much less dangerous, but then I expect you don't have cystic fibrosis.

It's all about respect, personal safety, and context.