SAN ANTONIO – The debate continues about whether or not the virus that causes COVID-19 leaked from a Wuhan lab. Even if that’s not the case, the discussion has labs worldwide evaluating safety protocols.
KSAT got a special tour of the protocols at the Texas Biomedical Research Institute, which studies and houses some of the most dangerous diseases in the world.
Research labs have four levels of biosafety: BSL (biosafety labs) 1 through 4.
- BSL-4 is the lab with the maximum containment level, housing deadly agents like Ebola, Marburg and Nipah viruses.
- BSL-3 labs contain pathogens like tuberculosis, equine encephalitis virus, and the SARS-CoV viruses that cause COVID-19.
- BSL-2 labs contain materials like the Zika virus.
- BSL-1 labs work with pathogens like E. coli or yeast.
Texas Biomed has all of those levels.
“Our role here is to make sure we don’t contaminate the environment. We don’t bring that -- anything out of our facilities while we do this very important research to make sure that we find a cure, find the vaccine,” said Dr. Hsiang-Ming Wang, who also goes by Anthony.
Wang is the environmental health and safety director at Texas Biomed. It’s a serious job that Wang took a little over two years ago in the middle of the pandemic.
“It’s very stressful, but it’s meant to -- that actually keeps us on our toes,” he said.
Wang oversees the safety of the facility’s access, the equipment uses, and the protective gear worn. His job revolved around constant training.
Training is so important and extensive that it sometimes takes people years to work up through the lab levels and end up in a BSL-4.
Part of that training involves personal protective equipment, or PPE.
PPE for BSL-2 labs is the most relaxed because researchers are not handling airborne agents. Researchers wear coats, N95 masks, and sometimes shoe covers.
BSL-3 and BSL-4 labs handle agents that can be transmitted through the air, so more PPE is necessary.
The level 3 PPE includes an air purifying system connected to a belt worn around the waist. That is connected to a hose that fastens to a mask, stopping any contaminants from getting in.
“Once they’re done with their work, they spray it down, disinfect it so they don’t bring anything out, wipe the whole unit down before they come out,” Wang explained.
In level 4 labs, there needs to be 100% separation between the scientist and the pathogen.
“In those cases, we have those positive pressure suits. The air is always pushing outwards. So we are pushing the bacterial virus away from the individual at all times.
Those suits need to be checked every single time they’re used.
“Inflating it on the floor and making sure they check every nook and cranny, make sure there’s no holes and any compromise of the suit,” Wang said.
The equipment in these labs is also designed to keep dangerous particles away.
The most commonly used machine is the biosafety cabinet, where researchers can sit with their hands under a large glass separator and work with bacteria or viruses.
“So the goal is to make sure you minimize your movement,” Wang said while showing his hands slowly moving under the glass.
He invited a KSAT crew into the training lab. There, he took out an instrument that generated smoke to simulate how the cabinet keeps particles from moving through the air.
He turned on the smoke machine inside the glass, and when he turned on the cabinet power, a grill sucking in the air pulled the smoke inside, acting like a barrier. No smoke reached the other side where the researcher would be sitting.
In the same way, smoke blown outside the cabinet was not able to enter under the glass, where the samples of bacteria and viruses would be kept.
Inside those cabinets are two enormous, multi-layer filters.
“Inches wide. You can see how deep it is. We use this in our training to show people what the filter looks like,” Wang said.
He said the training is all very hands-on.
“We want to make sure people are actually going through the motions and have us observing that motion, making sure they can do the right thing before we put them into a more risky scenario,” Wang said.
KSAT’s visit came during an exciting time for the BSL-4 lab specifically. It had just been cleared and cleaned.
Once a year, they decommission the level 4 lab, so they can painstakingly clean it and get it ready for incoming projects.
Being cleared means all harmful contaminants were successfully removed.
The lab is first shut down, and before anyone can go in to do manual cleaning, they use a machine that releases vaporized hydrogen peroxide.
“To make sure it actually kills everything in the lab, there are several tests we can run,” Wang said.
One test involves a strip in the room that has a red dot on it. Once the air is clean, it will turn yellow.
The second test used for even more precaution involves setting small disks across the entire lab. Those disks contain strong yet unharmful bacteria that are hard to kill.
“These are just very sturdy bacteria that you find in hot springs that can withstand a lot of chemical treatment,” Wang explained.
When the samples are put into vials, the liquid in the vial is yellow if the bacteria remains. If the bacteria are dead, the liquid is purple.
Just this week, the BSL-4 lab at Texas Biomed was cleared, and new research is set to begin.
These strict protocols allow researchers to keep the community safe while pushing the boundaries of science, preventing the next pandemic.
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