Genetic Transformation and Laminar Air Flow

April 14th, 2014 by Acmas No comments »

Genetic transformation literally means change caused by genes, and involves the insertion of a gene (donor) into an organism (from recipient) in order to change the organism’s trait.

The process of transformation has certain common features:

The purified donor DNA is first transported across the cell membrane into the recipient “competent cells” (cells, that can take up DNA), and
The DNA then undergoes recombination with the recipient DNA and is then expressed.

Genetic transformation is used in many areas of biotechnology.

In agriculture, genes coding for traits such as frost, pest, or spoilage resistance can be genetically transformed into plants.
In bioremediation, bacteria can be genetically transformed with genes enabling them to digest oil spills.
In medicine, diseases caused by defective genes are beginning to be treated by Gene Therapy; that is, by genetically transforming a sick person’s cells with healthy copies of the defective gene that causes the disease.

The main purpose of the Bacterial Transformation is to introduce a foreign plasmid into a bacterium and to use this bacterium to amplify the plasmid in order to make large quantities of this.

Bacteria can acquire new genetic information by three means:

Conjugation,
Transduction and
Transformation

During Conjugation, DNA is transferred directly from one organism to another, whereas in Transduction, the DNA is carried by Bacteriophages. And the Transformation includes insertion of naked DNA into bacterial cell with the help of different methods such as Electroporation and CaCl₂ method etc.

But this Bacterial Transformation protocol should be done under aseptic environment so that no other bacterial genome can interfere with the genome of interest.

Maintenance of aseptic environment:

All culture vessels, media and instruments used in protocol must be sterilized. The importance is to keep the air surface and floor free of suspended particles and any other microorganisms. All operations are carried out in Laminar Air Flow, a sterile cabinet. Infection can be from

The air contains a large quantity of suspended microorganisms in the form of fungal and Bacterial spores.
The human body (a skin, breathe etc) carries several microorganisms.

Laminar Air Flow provides a work area with aseptic/sterile conditions. Laminar Air Flow has continuous displacement of air (it provides streamline flow of air) that passes through HEPA (High Efficiency Particulate Air) filter that removes the particulates from the air.

Laminar Air Flow are equipped with a UV lamp that should be turned on about 10-20 minutes before being used to sterilize the shell or cabinet or the surface of the Laminar Air Flow to avoid any kind of contaminations. Wipe down the surface with ethanol before and after each use.

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Autoclave Safe Practice for Body Piercing and Tattooing

April 12th, 2014 by Acmas No comments »

Autoclaves are the best means of sterilizing materials either before reuse or disposal. Autoclave uses moist heat for the sterilization of equipments by subjecting them to high pressure saturated steam at 121 °C and 15 pounds of pressure per square inch depending for around 15–20 minutes on the size of the load and the contents.

This means that all bacteria, viruses, fungi, and spores are destroyed. Autoclaves work by allowing steam to enter and maintaining extremely high pressure for at least 15 minutes. Heat labile products cannot be sterilized using the autoclave e.g. plastics. There are some risks which are involved in operating an autoclave and can be harmful for any personnel.

Some risks involved in operating Autoclave are

Heat burns: caused by hot materials, and the autoclave’s walls or door.
Steam burns: These are caused by the residual steam which escapes from the autoclave, and materials upon completion of the cycle.
Hot fluid scalds: Just as it sounds, this is caused from boiling liquids and spillage in the Autoclave.
Risk of explosion
Hand, and arm injuries while closing the door.

Nowadays, it is recommended to use an autoclave at the body piercing shop and body tattoo shops too. All the equipments used for the piercing and tattooing should be autoclaved/sterilized before reuse because unsafe skin penetrations have the potential to spread deadly viruses such as hepatitis.

The main issues in making these activities safe for the operator/owner and the customer/client are:

clean premises
good operator hygiene
avoiding contamination of instruments and materials
using correct cleaning, disinfection and sterilization methods
Safe sharps disposal.

Some important points for reducing the risk of infection while doing body piercing or tattooing

Tattooing and piercing equipments should be sterilized using moist heat sterilization (Autoclave).
All the surfaces should be thoroughly cleaned after and before doing piercing and tattooing.
Sterilize equipments should never come into contact of used equipments or unsterilized equipments, this can be harmful.
Sterile equipments should be handled using sterile forceps.
Skin must be swabbed with chlorhexidine or 70% alcohol and allowed to dry for at least 60 seconds before penetration and for the penetration only sterilized equipments should be used as stated earlier.
If the area needs to be shaved a disposable or sterilized razor should be used.
If bleeding occurs, the client/customer should be asked to apply gentle pressure with a clean dressing and the area disinfected with an antiseptic such as Povidone

For More Information Visit – http://www.acmasindia.com/autoclaves/

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Autoclave and Hospitals

April 11th, 2014 by Acmas No comments »

For sterilizing and disinfecting the medical devices/equipments in hospitals/laboratories, the Autoclave is the preferred equipment. Autoclave uses moist heat (saturated stem under pressure) for sterilizing medical/hospital equipments and surgical instruments.

They are bit like giant pressure cookers that use the power of steam to kill off germs that would survive a simple washing with boiling water and detergents. In the past, harmful microorganisms were disinfected using a variety of materials including alcohol, boiling water and hydrogen peroxide. Although these materials do work, but they do not provide a safe line that every type of microorganism will be eliminated, as Autoclave steam does.

Autoclave chambers are mostly cylindrical because cylinders are better able to with stand extreme pressure than boxes whose edges become points of weakness that can break.

Time required for sterilization of surgical equipment(s) depends on a variety of factors that include the following too

Contamination level of the items being autoclaved (dirty items known to be more contaminated will take longer time to sterilize because they contain more microbes)
How the Autoclave is loaded up (if steam can circulate more freely, autoclaving will be quicker and more effective)

Hospitals use Autoclave as primary waste management technology. Steam sterilization is the preferred, cost effective non burn method of biohazard waste treatment. Autoclave helps in treating the infectious medical waste. Autoclaves are important medical strategies because they sterilize and dry surgical and other medical equipments.

Hospitals use a large Autoclave that looks similar to a dish washer. A Hospital Autoclave can process large numbers of surgical instrument in a single cycle. In Hospitals an Autoclave is also used for dressing, bedding, rubber gloves or any other material required to be free from bacterial and other similar contamination’s. Autoclaves are widely used in medical and dental clinics, surgery and operating rooms, veterinary clinics and Intensive Care Units.