What is a Green Lab? Touring an NIDDK Laboratory

This video takes a behind-the-scenes look at a National Institutes of Health (NIH)-certified green lab, located on the NIH campus in Bethesda, Maryland. Minoo Shakoury-Elizeh, a biologist at the NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK) in the Liver Diseases Branch, walks through some of the environmentally friendly equipment and methods used to save energy, money, space, and time in the lab.

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Transcript:

Hi! My name is Minoo Shakoury-Elizeh, and I’m delighted to give you a tour of our NIH-certified Green Lab. I’ll be showing you just a few of the many ways our lab has gone green and saved time, energy, money, and space in the process. Welcome to the Genetics and Metabolism Section of the Liver Diseases Branch, where we investigate the genetics and cell biology of iron metabolism in the NIH’s National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases.

Methanol is used in conventional western blotting, a technique used to detect proteins. But methanol is toxic to the environment and human health. This Western blot transfer instrument can perform dry blotting, eliminating the need to use methanol. In addition to reducing toxic waste, this machine, which is much smaller than conventional blotting instruments, can transfer proteins 4 times faster, saving time, energy, and space in the lab.

Labs can eliminate hazardous silver compounds from their waste streams by using digital imaging equipment, like this imaging system, which eliminates the need to use X-ray film containing hazardous compounds. By switching to digital imaging systems, we eliminate the need for multiple film exposures, costly dark rooms, and many other aspects that can complicate traditional Western blotting, saving time, space, energy, and money. Our section has reduced hazardous waste and saved over $11,000 in the first year of this switch by eliminating the need to purchase X-ray film.

Green products like this cell counter instrument have been created to eliminate the need for glass slides, which can be a source of waste in the lab. We can transfer very small amounts of cell suspension directly onto its surface and receive a cell count, eliminating the need for slides. It’s largely maintenance-free, easy to clean with a dry wipe, takes less power to operate, and is smaller, so it saves on bench space. We and many other NIH labs already successfully use these types of instruments for research purposes.

Our lab utilizes this spectrophotometer which measures nucleic acid concentration. Unlike conventional spectrophotometers, this machine eliminates the need for cuvettes, cutting down on plastic waste. This machine is energy efficient and takes up a very small amount of space, without costly maintenance.

In our section, excellence in sustainability and science go hand-in-hand. We hope that you, too, can find your own path towards sustainable lab practices.

I hope that this tour has given you a few ideas and provided inspiration and excitement about going green. As you can see, making your lab more environmentally friendly doesn’t require drastic changes.

Thank you for stopping by and spending this time with us here in NIDDK.