Eco-Friendly Research Approaches in the Freeman Lab

For us, in the Freeman lab, thinking about sustainable research is just what we do. Of course, we keep in line with all the Dunn School green initiatives, such as reusing washed plastic tubes and glass pipettes, sorting our recyclable waste from general waste, monitoring the temperature in our working spaces, etc., We don’t really see any other option, and it is only natural for us to integrate sustainability into our research, without compromising our scientific standards, for example, we can take a gene expression assay as case study to demonstrate these concepts in our day-to-day work:

Growing mammalian cell cultures

The first thing we consider here is what is the minimal number of cells that we could use to get sufficient amounts of RNA. By downsizing the number of cells in each sample from ~1 million cells to ~0.5 million cells we can obtain enough RNA while using fewer plastic plates for each experiment. In addition to that, fewer cells need a smaller volume of growth media, which saves not only money, but also animal-derived products, that we obviously prefer to use as efficiently as possible.

After plating the cells for an experiment, we carefully consider how many cells we’ll need in the near future, and we only maintain the necessary number, again, to avoid waste. Naturally, smaller liquid volumes also allow us to use smaller pipettes and smaller tips, which automatically require less plastic. Together with reusing the same growth plates and the same tips (when possible), this also translates to fewer rounds of safety procedures for the bio-hazard materials.

RNA extraction

We invested time and efforts in trying out different extraction kits in order to find ones that use fewer hazardous chemicals and generate less plastic waste, and we are always keen to hear about new options in the market. Thanks to our experience with the different kits we now know how to select the right kit for the right application. Next, our experience taught us that good quality RNA can be stored in a standard freezer (-200) for up to 18 months with no significant degradation. This allows us to save space in our -700 freezer only for things that require storage in this temperature.

Gene expression analysis

We calibrated our experiments so that we can use the minimal volume of samples and reagents. When possible, we use 384-well plates instead of 96-well plates. Of course, when we only test a small number of samples, we’ll use just the necessary wells and keep the plate for the next time that we need to test only few samples.

We appreciate that the type of work that we’re doing generates plenty of waste, but as people who care about the world around us, it’s only natural for us to apply the same principles to any experiment we’re conducting, and to work towards efficient, minimal-waste lab work.

Shaked from Freeman Group, photographed by Clémence Levet