RE: Biosafety of sorting revisited

To echo the comments of Keith and others, the only way to handle the sorting
of human samples is through the observance of Universal Precautions as
defined by the CDC.

Having said this, the burden is yours to see that Universal Precautions can
be observed even in the presence of a nozzle clog.

We have modified the Cytoshield hood on our MoFlo and had it certified as a
Class I chemical fume hood.  We are now in the final steps of validation
using a Glo Germ procedure similar to the one described by Obseryszyn (2001)
and Perfetto (2003).  When finsihed we will use standard gloves, labcoat,
and face shield, but will not use a "Bunny Suit" for sorting.

Albert Donnenberg



Perfetto SP. Ambrozak DR. Koup RA. Roederer M. Measuring containment of
viable infectious cell sorting in high-velocity cell sorters. Cytometry.
52A(2):122-30, 2003

Oberyszyn AS. Robertson FM. Novel rapid method for visualization of extent
and location of aerosol contamination during high-speed sorting of
potentially biohazardous samples. Cytometry. 43(3):217-22, 2001.