Arthropods

Working with arthropods can involve certain risks because they can be:

• potential transmitters of infectious diseases;
• generators of allergies;
• quarantine pests;
• exotic and/or invasive species;
• poisonous;
• genetically modified organisms, etc.

This is why it is necessary to apply good work practices, to have trained personnel as well as adequate facilities that make it possible to ensure that personnel and the environment are protected from exposure or an involuntary release into the environment.

Among the primary barriers and most common work practices are: training of authorized personnel, change of clothing and use of PPE appropriate to the BSL, anesthesia (eg with CO₂) prior handling, systematic counts, cooling plates for microdissection and fine manipulation, methacrylate boxes with netting, the use of BSC or the "glove box", the exit shower, the use of effective insecticides and disposal methods, etc.

• Arthropod containment guidelines (v3.2).
• USDA Containment Guidelines for arthropods, certain plants, snails, nematodes, etc.
• Safe working with arthropods (ISTR) (2017)
• Infravec2 guidelines for the design and operation of containment level 2 and 3 insectaries in Europe (2022)
• Mosquitoes factssheet (MediLabSecure) 
• Medical entomology (vídeo MediLabSecure).
• Gene Drive 101: A Basic Guidance Resource for Biosafety Professionals. Applied Biosafety (2017).
• Demystifying the Risk Assessment Process for Laboratory-Based Experiments Utilizing Invasive Genetic Elements: It Is More Than Gene Drive. Applied Biosafety (2021).
• Gene Drives in Biomedical Research Report (NIH 2021).
• Containment Practices for Arthropods Modified with Engineered Transgenes Capable of Gene Drive. Applied Biosafety (2022)