How the US Gov’s Riskiest Labs Contain Deadly Viruses

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[@biovorebarrage6860]

In training the BSL levels were described to me as “1:don’t drink it,2: don’t touch it,3: don’t breathe it, and 4: don’t”.

[@EagleTheGreat]

me: 1. ooo 2. ooh 3. oh. 4. *neural activation*

[@beagle_uah]

Yep, that’s… seems accurate lol

[@bigpharts]

And outside correspondent Amy didn't even enter a BSL-4 zone for footage? You guys have really gone down the tubes.

[@Parc_Ferme]

Amy is a babyyy LOL 😅😅😅

[@joseville]

She's an outside correspondent and that's not outside.

[@Ellie-rx3jt]

I suppose she'll need a PhD in biochemistry or pathology or something, so maybe she's still working on it 😅

[@edl5731]

They could have sent her to a BSL-0,

[@davidjennings2179]

I haven't seen Amy for a while - maybe she went into a bsl 5 zone - just a one way trip you never return from

[@leonguyen896]

Way back when I was young, dumb, and thought I was invincible, I had the opportunity to work in a BSL3 on drug resistant tuberculosis in my undergrad. It made me really appreciate all the work that goes into finding cures for diseases.

[@averageprogrammingenjoyer2059]

Drug resistant tuberculosis? What else you guys had there? Airborne Rabies? Jesus.

[@LowerBudgetOppenheimer]

💀 DRUG RESISTANT TUBERCULOSIS?

[@jhonbus]

@@averageprogrammingenjoyer2059 Pretty sure we have to invent BSL-5 when airborne rabies is discovered / invented.

[@brittgayle467]

@@averageprogrammingenjoyer2059antibiotic resistant TB isn’t uncommon and even exists in the general population in many countries.

[@ianjohnson3770]

@@averageprogrammingenjoyer2059and there’s still a whole other level

[@jjolmyun]

As someone who made a living designing high containment life sciences laboratories (including COVID treatment research facilities during the height of the pandemic), I would also like to add that higher level BSL labs are often contained within lower level BSL labs (e.g., BSL4 within BSL3 within BSL2) pneumatically-if not physically through careful spatial planning-to create multiple layers of containment. Pressure differential REALLY IS what's keeping spaces clean/separated and pathogens contained. Anything that creates air turbulence are examined over and over, and any materials or assemblies with potential for fluids to seap/pass through (e.g., outlets, door frames, windows, and even gypsum/drywall surfaces) are made air tight with seals/gaskets and air sealing paints/finishes. You know things are getting serious when you see vestibules/airlocks and people busting out PAPRs... P.s. BSL facilities are periodically renovated to keep up with the latest best practices and research needs, usually between 5 to 15 years, or even more frequently at smaller scales if there is a specific need (e.g., new pathogen handling, new equipment or process).

[@fish_doc]

Now that you mention this: I had never noticed it before. I work for the NIH at a huge virus research facility and all our BSL-3 labs are behind our BSL-2+ labs. I had never connected that before.

[@thezomby5015]

I do the Building Automation System on labs, I have to say they are a very good customer to keep happy because they always have money to give us for projects :) My main customer only requires BSL2 but they built most of their stuff to BSL3 standard just in case they ever had the need to work on riskier stuff.

[@palasticb]

If you are still in this space you should check out CURIS, we are already implementing our system in a new bsl 4 and several others!

[@newsaxonyproductions7871]

That concept of pressurizing the rooms differently so that when the seal is breached, air flows *towards* the dangerous thing is actually such a genius and cool idea!

[@doublelxp]

I sometimes work in a cleanroom intended to protect product in electronic assembly that is pressurized out to get rid of contamination when the doors open.

[@Nsta1]

This is done in food and pharmaceutical process facilities as well, to limit contamination.

[@azmah1999]

This is done at the Large Hadron Collider at CERN as well. The pressure inside the (small) room with the elevator is higher than on the rest of the installation, so that if there is a fire, people can safely take it

[@LilybeeTV]

@@Nsta1woo! That’s my job! 🙂

[@blazedriver7619]

@@doublelxp I do quality control for cleanroom certification, including BSL-3 certification, and this is true of the majority of cleanrooms, because more often than not the purpose is to keep contaminants out for a sterile environment, particularly drug manufacturing. The exceptions are when working with hazardous drugs or pathogens, where the contaminant is what you're working with in the room and the primary concern is protecting those outside the room.

[@gupdoo3]

Thank you for making a video specifically for the type of person who went down a smallpox Wikipedia rabbit hole a couple of years ago and now gets to go "hey it's that thing I kinda know about"

[@joaovitormatos8147]

All videos on HAI are like that but for different groups based on the articles

[@anthonyexplains]

No bc I literally did exactly that

[@coolkooplinggaming1500]

Das me to a T

[@sushamihikaru]

Check out The Demon in the Freezer by Richard Preston (he's written a lot of good micro books imo)

[@veezerrscharnhorst]

And everyone still thinks Wikipedia isn't a trustworthy website

[@bubbledoubletrouble]

0:16 That ought to say "should only exist". 10 years ago there was an incident where they just randomly found some vials of freeze-dried smallpox while cleaning out a storage area at a NIH lab in Maryland. Oopsies!

[@ExperimentIV]

i also came here to discuss how they just keep finding vials of stuff that shouldnt be there anymore (especially smallpox)

[@umamii936]

@@ExperimentIV Even worse when they dont find it

[@RedStripeMedia]

Occassionally they surplus lab equipment out of that facility and we always joke its the cleanest equipment out there.

[@noufaris2790]

I mean, 10 years is a long time ago.

[@ThirtytwoJ]

Was two other instances i remember out of the west coast and another in canada.

[@distortedrain5624]

I know a person who works in bio-labs that told me they chose not to work with pathogens because the fear of killing humanity from not washing their hands perfectly was too much.

[@busterbeagle2167]

Yeah right

[@williamchristensen2049]

This person is a liar

[@glitchedgirI]

I work in a BSL2+ lab. I research the common cold: rhinovirus. I've never gotten sick from working with the virus, but DAMN the amount of times my Hepatitis A virus researcher colleague comes into work with a cold makes it seem like he's a malpracticing rhinovirus researcher.

[@RandomTheories]

@@glitchedgirI he is obviously busy and taking his work to home ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

[@glitchedgirI]

@@RandomTheories Hep A doesn't even have those symptoms ;-; if anything he'd be taking my work home and that's not very nice of him, he should share

[@Cats-TM]

0:50 Should have rewritten that sentence because Smallpox notoriously does have a vaccine.

[@newsaxonyproductions7871]

Smallpox has a vaccine to immunize people to it, but as far as I know, it does not have a cure

[@n9go]

I think the criteria for BSL-4 is just incredibly infectious diseases that may not have a vaccine or cure. Not necessarily that they don't.

[@doujinflip]

Although the global stockpile stands at maybe 400m, meaning only enough doses for not even 5% of humanity, and it's not like there's a demand to increase the inventory. I'm probably one of the few actually vaccinated for smallpox these days when I took up my local clinic's offer to receive MVA-BN shots back when monkeypox was in the news two years ago.

[@baljeep_gay]

It is the main reason that it got, you know, eradicated

[@zeveroarerules]

@@doujinflip so you meant "yes, indeed" ?

[@ronstevenson4211]

When I was a kid, I sent an email to the CDC asking about this very thing. I got a quizzical email in return stating that they weren't sure why I was asking but provided my the information anyway. I'm certain I was on a list from that point onwards.

[@pittiebaby]

Oh cool😂

[@ZestyZaza420]

We have an island in the baltic sea here in germany called Riems which has an BSL-4 Lab on it and as far as i know no one besides the workers can enter the island

[@TotMannsFete]

Meanwhile, in Marburg, you can just casually stroll up to the BSL-4 lab - but you can only enter or exit it via a skybridge from the adjacent building.

[@fricki1997]

I regularly work in BSL-1 (regular lab and cell culture) and BSL-2 (cell culture only). When I was a bit younger I dreamed about also working in BSL-3 and maybe BSL-4, who knows, maybe I'll get there eventually. BSL-1 is fairly relaxed, but in BSL-2 you get the impression that it starts to get serious.

[@EvelynNdenial]

you know immediately bsl-3 is serious when you pass the crash barriers, steel front door, and 2 inches of bulletproof glass.

[@mistformsquirrel]

@@EvelynNdenial That sounds... intense.

[@EvelynNdenial]

@@mistformsquirrel at least i dont have to deal with the public

[@sion8]

​@@EvelynNdenial That sounds like a dream.

[@MajorShmoopy]

I remember doing a clinical lab tour the first week of my microbiology PhD. The director let us see the BSL-3 room, showed us some tuberculosis cultures, and proceeded to get annoyed at the alarm when it started going off due to leaving the door open. I'm pretty happy in the BSL-2 world, most of the rules make intuitive sense and worst case scenario I give myself non-gonococcal urethritis anyway

[@Bacopa68]

There's a BSL 4 lab in Galveston at the UTMB campus. It's super hurricane hardened. Only two bridges and one ferry on the island, so I guess they can shut things down if necessary. Of course there are thousands of boats and even a large cruise ship terminal, so I guess you can get away if you need to.

[@LordBallSac]

Sounds like jurrasic park meets snowdon the movie 😂

[@samiraperi467]

1:25 Aw, such a happy bacterium! :3

[@EW-ed6kd]

I expect to see you using a stock image of a Golden Retriever when referring to Labradors on the 2024 mess ups recap

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

That looks like a mix of both. The coat color isn't the color of a Goldie. Too much yellow lab color there for me to believe it's a full blood gold. But not using a full blood lab is still a humorous thing. Given that was the whole joke.

[@Attaxalotl]

Also the list of diseases with no vaccine includes smallpox, which famously does have a vaccine.

[@m7e4d]

@@goosenotmaverick1156 Could be an English Cream. I have one she's a spittin image of this dog.

[@anniec.417]

@@goosenotmaverick1156 not to get all dog nerd but the same gene codes for the yellow color in both breeds. That could absolutely be a purebred golden.

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

@anniec.417 I actually did some looking after reading the other person's reply and it has been noted. I did not realize there was so much variety in coat color of goldies

[@Eoin-B]

My sister works in a BSL-3 lab. The respirators are attached to the ceiling, like your footage of BSL-4 and there isn't a dual zone at 3:21 just a positive pressure room, forcing all the air to run through the multiple ventilation hoods. There is more air pressure between the two sliding doors though. IDK, maybe there is a huge overlap between levels. She works for Boston Scientific.

[@joshuazelinsky5213]

Not sure if this is the situation, but as I understand it, in general any BLS-1, 2 or 3 lab is free to have some additional safeguards associated with a higher level, and that's fine. But if they don't have all of them (and all the accompanying paperwork) they still count as just whatever level they officially are. In practice for example a lot of BSL-1 labs have some of the BSL-2 features.

[@Eoin-B]

​@@joshuazelinsky5213 I've only got to see through a window, but BLS-3 looked way more like BLS-4 was in this video and things were very serious near the lab. Different long corridors with lockers, then decontamination and suit rooms for them to approach the lab and all that. I'm still unsure why they deal with dangerous pathogens, they have close to nothing to do with what they produce. There was a suit rip while handling something serious and it was a whole thing, but it was 2 years ago so all I really remember was everyone in the lab were quarantined in-house for a week though only one was possibly exposed. I'd prefer if he went though all the crap that the workers have to go though to work there, rather than covering the facilities.

[@Henchman1977]

Adding to the year end blooper reel.... 4:43 that's an a/c condenser, doesn't have a filter and doesn't handle air.

[@eggsontoast]

I'm an aspiring biologist, and all of my lab classes were in a Level 2 lab. I'm Australian so things are slightly different here. For us, Level 2 is required for any genetically-modified organism (genetic modification is a really common tool in biology research) and pathogens which are in Risk Group 2. We had some extra safety points on top of those mentioned for this level in the video: - lab coats must stay inside the lab (they get specially cleaned) - the negative pressure environment (the lower air pressure thing discussed here) is at this level, throughout the lab - the air recirculates (though I think through a filter system of some kind) - there are alarms on the doors which will sound if they're open longer than 30 seconds. This is because the pressure is beginning to equalise and air could start flowing out of the lab. There are also alarms for the air pressure in general - the doors self-close and lock as part of not allowing unauthorised entry - our hand-washing stations are motion-sensor activated, no touching taps - the only thing you bring in or out of the lab is yourself and the clothes you're wearing. No other equipment, or food or water (though in the teaching labs we did bring lab books & pens in and out -- proper labs you can't) I did a project in a proper research lab at my uni, and they were working with pathogenic strains of a bacteria sampled from the local hospital. This bacteria is one that people are quite concerned about worldwide, because it's a bad hospital-borne infection and is great at developing and spreading antibiotic resistance. But it was fine in this lab because a) we had the biosafety cabinets, and b) it only really infects immunocompromised people. So, if you're sick don't go into the lab, but otherwise it doesn't really pose a risk to lab workers. I could talk so much more about labs and the things we do in them, if people have any questions please ask!

[@AllPurposeScientist]

HAI ERROR! air does not enter or exit the open front of a class 2 biosafety cabinet as shown! - a laminar air curtain circulating through HEPA filters protect anything from entering or exiting… as much as an air curtain can. usually in these environments, everything going into the cabinet needs to be clean. the cabinets also have UV lights installed in them to sterilise the interior after or before use.

[@phforNZ]

Assuming the idiots using it don't cover the grills with stuff. And UV is only effective for surfaces directly exposed to it.

[@glitchedgirI]

I noticed that. Man, if non sterile air entered through the front gate, all my cells would get so contaminated so fast.

[@mistlarousse]

I was gonna comment this lol

[@Dino14345]

Room air will enter the BSC through the grill

[@glitchedgirI]

@@Dino14345 after passing through the hepa filter in the back...

[@Meower68]

Surprised they don't have biolabs where everything in there is a robot and everything is operated via telepresence. If a human body never actually enters the room, no need for the PPE, the chemical shower, the regular shower, etc. Or is there a BSL-5 that they're not talking about 'cuz ... the first rule of the BSL-5 lab is that you don't talk about the BSL-5 lab ..?

[@sirBrouwer]

Knowing that they are using robotic arms in hospitals in the OR. So that might be something they might be using but there will still be moment you will have to first bring a virus or bacterie in to the room. full autonome robots are not good enough with very fine motor skills.

[@leo_warren]

There's a type of BSL 4 lab that is effectively BSL 5 for extraterrestrial samples that is being designed and specified at the moment.

[@fyang1429]

You'd be surprised how much more dexterous human arms are to even the best robots. Operating a robot remotely probably also comes with ergonomic problems. Plus people doing research in BSL-4 probably are just postdocs that leave after a few years. Training many people to operate robots and hoping they don't ever knock things over is probably too hazardous.

[@NovemberOrWhatever]

I know they do that in parts of semiconductor manufacturing facilities so there are no humans to produce any sort of dust or contaminant

[@Species-lj8wh]

Probably something Government run like the lab in Andromeda Strain. Although minus the nuclear self destruct.

[@thelakeman2538]

5:35 Gordon is a highly trained professional, he doesn't need to hear all this.

[@stanleyconnor6898]

Gordon Freeman, I hope 😂

[@naturally_rob]

I worked for a company for a few years doing air balancing and maintainence for cleanrooms and labs. There's some very fun physics with it. The most I've been in was a BSL-3 and it took them five months from when we got the contract for me and my partner to be cleared to go and do our work. Best I've been paid in a long while.

[@nolananderson4782]

That awkward moment when an HAI video is basically the first 5 minutes of any safety training for work...

[@missl1775]

Gotta love the rest of the headline at 4:15. So reassuring

[@xbotsev]

So if I break in there and drink some for fun how screwed are we

[@zimbu_]

If you knew when to break in for there to be a big enough dose to infect available, and you knew what you're looking at so you knew what to drink to get infected, and you knew how to dodge law enforcement and their efforts to catch you or block you from leaving the area and the city, and then waited a few days so you'd be sick enough to infect others, then you could cause dozens of people to get a bad infection and full or partial lockdowns in cities you manage to visit before getting too sick to travel yourself.

[@ryanpayne7707]

...And that is how the zombie apocalypse started.

[@MonkeyJedi99]

@@zimbu_ Stephen King already wrote that book.

[@johnladuke6475]

It really depends what exactly you drink, as well. How screwed we are will vary with the different diseases.

[@Efflorescentey]

On a scale from 1 to 4

[@stanleyconnor6898]

So, I guess, the first "Resident Evil" movie's lab was somewhere between 0 and 1 BSL level. Nice movie, btw 😅

[@midlandsman288]

I came here expecting a toxic comment section but now I’m somewhat surprised the conversation is constructive.

[@gregoberski5897]

Same. There's still the occasional "pick me" edgelord making some crack about covid but it's not a complete dumpster fire of qanon asshatery

[@Squant]

I was looking for comments from people saying these places shouldn't exist at all, without considering the fact it'll just give other countries an advantage.

[@davidmcgill1000]

They're still contained in a lab.

[@Wavy-]

True i was expecting some conspiratorial comments about the cdc / covid and the smug attitude of them being "right" (they are not, their sources are from facebook)

[@therealteal620]

0:03 the place you get ratted while calling the medical elevator

[@reedplesko1802]

Ong

[@Ghoulstards]

5:06 Anything but metric lol

[@Rubrickety]

My lab is one of the few to still use artisinal manual claves. The equipment doesn't get as clean, but it has that human touch, y'know?

[@warrenanderson9207]

Won’t be petting labs anytime soon🐕

[@maumee22]

In my undergrad we had a botany-microbiology-virology lab that they kinda joked was "2.5". Looking back, it's insane how undergrads worked around, but not with, some of that stuff. But hey, we never interacted eith the majority of stuff. Heck, I was only ever in that room to work with Arabidopsis that had certain genes deleted.

[@glitchedgirI]

Yeah, I work in a BSL2+ lab, so it's not quite the criteria for BSL3, but rhinovirus is pretty transmissible even if it doesn't travel thru air (it can travel through aerosols). We have to bleach basically any surface your hands come in contact with in the BSL2+ room because 70% ethanol doesn't do the trick.

[@kolkoki]

It's the second video that shows the american way of handling super dangerous things (after the nuke transport) and it's the second time i ask myself : while in the US that *looks* kinda safe, how is it in Russia, with the rampant corruption (that leads to underfunding) ?

[@erkinalp]

While Russia is corrupt, they are also very obedient.

[@andrewharrison8436]

That's the sort of question that gives Science Fiction writers ideas and anybody else nightmares.

[@erkinalp]

@@andrewharrison8436 russia has engineered and built its own vaccines, it appears they managed to handle this part well

[@Youtub-IDK]

3 football fields or 2 football fields😂

[@nuker_101]

Its 3 football fields or 2 futbol fields.

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

@@nuker_101 futbol is just an alternative spelling, it's not separate from football. It's just American football that really has any distinction. The one you make is primarily a distinction of language itself.

[@donyyt7274]

@@goosenotmaverick1156 Learn how to take a joke lmao

[@inquisitorbenediktanders3142]

Maybe handegg.

[@Youtub-IDK]

@@goosenotmaverick1156 ik

[@monicazhou5301]

2:36 Just a small note, a biosafety cabinet keeps the stuff you're working with sterile by blowing air down and out, the arrows are pointing the wrong way. What is being described in more akin to a fumehood which sucks air up to prevent nasties from leaking out.

[@Kyle_Spivis]

I’m pretty sure there’s an old Black Death graveyard in Greenland that could contain some of deadliest strains due to permafrost and maybe a glacier involved.

[@Hexagonaldonut]

I work in a clinical cleanroom environment, so a lot of this is actually pretty familiar to me! We handle drug rather than pathogens (most of the time), so our requirements are definitely different, but there's definitely a lot in common nonetheless; we have containment suites that actually look moderately similar to BSL-3, with the main differences being in equipment and a lack of pressure cascade zoning. We use them to handle drug that can be particular hazardous to be exposed to (especially stuff like really powdery uncoated tablets), or for things that require exceptionally low humidity. Relatedly, this video has made me wonder why the hell we don't have handwash stations on the floor; we have no shortage of sanitizer, but the only places to wash your hands are the restrooms (only at the entrance of Operations) and the visitor corridor five feet away. Yes, we're wearing gloves almost constantly, but also our work still warrants that kind of hygiene, and more importantly, it'd *really help* with the whole problem of taking gloves off and not being able to put them back on reliably for the next 15 minutes because wearing those gloves for an hour made your skin sweaty and then tacky and it makes getting new gloves back on such a pain in the ass and-

[@jwbaz1gaming]

That’s a golden retriever (english cream), not a lab in the first clip.

[@juanconstenla1171]

I laughed so much with the football fields comparison! I never cared about both sports enough to search the different sizes, but now I'm happy to know that hand egg play in smaller fields

[@TheCrimsonAtom]

I work in a Cleanroom, my entire job is to keep contaminates out of the BSC to make the drug product safe. This entire thing is upside down to me but still has the same basic principles, pretty neat.

[@ESSOKAYmusic]

I work in a chemical laboratory and those are pressurised lower aswell. You want to keep fumes inside the lab, because it has a special and very effective ventilation system. If it were to flood the hallways, people from other functions in the company could be affected. The hallways don't have ventilation systems and there are offices aswell. Also all coworkers working outside your lab can't know about possible dangers.

[@bipolarminddroppings]

Fun Fact: I'm almost certain that 160,000 sqft is infact exactly the size of two football pitches, because a football pitch, unlike a handegg field, can range in size within a minimum to maximum limit. So, assuming you used the "standard" pitch size, you've got plenty of room to go before you hit the minimum or maximum dimensions.

[@ninjadragongamer6861]

I want to be annoyed at the name "handegg" but 1. It's too clever to resist 2. I don't actually care about the sport, so I don't care what you call it 3. I'm stealing it

[@goosenotmaverick1156]

​@ninjadragongamer6861 I always called it something akin to a mis-shaped basketball haha. Hand-egg is a good one I, like you, don't care so I couldn't be bothered to find it anything but honest and amusing 😂

[@nietur]

It even fits a third one

[@sunburntsilverado7665]

@@ninjadragongamer6861ahha me too!!

[@bipolarminddroppings]

@ninjadragongamer6861 I would like to take credit for the name handegg but I too stole it from someone many years ago and have been trying to spread it around ever since.

[@darthnosam3313]

That whole pressure cascade zoning thing is also required by code (at least in the state of Utah) when you have a building that has running vehicles, like a parking garage, that also has an adjoining room like a booth. The adjoining room has to have a higher static pressure than the place where vehicles are so that carbon monoxide and other harmful emissions from vehicles don't naturally get sucked into the occupied space.

[@peachteagirl]

What a great video! I already watched it in its entirety.

[@Roaviator747]

That is impossible you posted this 1 minute after the video released and it is 8 min long

[@breadstealer93]

@@Roaviator747 bro cant take a joke

[@user-tr1zj]

just in time for the next election!

[@nosslived]

What a weird variation on "first!"...

[@saintbennithy]

@@Roaviator747that woosh you heard was the joke flying over your head

[@bradlevantis913]

Fun fact. Ontario Canada was building a BSL 4 lab that was going to be the largest in North America back in the 90’s. Unfortunately government changed at at 90% complete they quashed the entire project. Apparently the premier at the time was notoriously poor when it came to understanding science and the safety protocols involved

[@RevereShin]

I don't know if I should be proud or worried that I made the same "I hope you put clothes on before leaving" joke as Sam around 6:02...

[@Hinotori_joj]

We had to read a book in highschool about ebola, and it was written by someone who worked in these high containment labs. They were investigating something that they thought was a common bacteria and took a whiff to look for a signature smell. There was no smell. It turned out to be a strain of ebola that could spread through the air, but for some reason it didn't affect humans, just monkeys. If it did, humanity probably would have been wiped out. (actually, its a pretty interesting story. this happened on the outskirts of Washington DC, and the outbreak happened in a lab-monkey holding center. The monkeys started dying, and when the tests showed matches for the deadliest strain of ebola yet, and that it was spreading through the monkeys through the air, i couldn't even imagine the existential horror.)

[@Breathlless]

What’s the name of the book? That sounds super cool

[@Hinotori_joj]

@@Breathlless The Hot Zone. It's a bit graphic in its descriptions of what happens to ebola victims, almost too much for me in highschool, but im sure if you're interested in reading it you'll be fine.

[@your_localcommenter-ft4vf]

I know that human error is common in a lot of things, but why would anyone just randomly take a whiff of some unknown substance-especially in an area known for dealing with highly-dangerous pathogens? I know they thought they were working with a common bacteria, but I personally wouldn’t take any chances if my sample wasn’t triple-checked to be harmless.

[@fyang1429]

Honestly lots of bio labs are built to be workable as BSL-2 even though the majority only handle BSL-1 work. You really don't need any additional safety precautions if you work with just a viral protein or two, which is what most people need. Even if one wants to work with live viruses or bacteria there are non-pathogenic/less-pathogenic relatives that are similar enough. As a result, many prestigious schools don't have a single BSL-3 lab because the lack of need.

[@sebastianelytron8450]

Do kids these days really feIIate frogs to impress their crushes?

[@grottake]

Im just glad I wasnt the only one who heard this.

[@chucklebutt4470]

ummm how else would you do it? did I NOT have to do that? 🤨

[@VitalVampyr]

It would be an impressive feat since frogs are pretty small and don't have external genitalia.

[@TheKeeperofChaos]

​@VitalVampyr that's what I'm banking on my crush thinking too. Wish me luck!

[@glauberglousger956]

​@@VitalVampyrI was thinking it's about putting the whole Frog in the mouth

[@williamcoleman8731]

I work in a CL2 (Canadian equivalent of BSL-2) university lab, and seeing the exponential increase in PPE and other controls is incredible!

[@FlowMichael]

Sam releases this while I'm reading The Hot Zone by Richard Preston? Damn man's got eyes everywhere.

[@augiegirl1]

The opening of the 1995 movie “Outbreak”, which was inspired by the real-life events covered by that book, shows the 4 BSL levels at the facility run by USAMRIID (the Army version of the CDC). The movie is free with ads on KZbin.

[@JesseRoamsFree]

I gotta say I absolutely love your editing and commentary

[@toku_u]

I'm a uni bio student, work regularly in a BSL2 and there's a BSL4 lab located on a military site near me. I've heard professors explain their experience there and it's scary work, but of course with the features in place it's pretty much impossible to become infected. I still don't know what I want to do with my life, but perhaps Ill work in it one day.

[@DemosIoannou]

fun fact about VECTOR It was the biochemical weapons laboratory during Soviet Union times. and it still protected by the army.

[@EmilOsena]

In my HVAC course in my college days, I did some research on HVAC systems on hospitals on the side while also doing research on our group project and I tell ya, it's a lot more complex and extremely strict in it's design that chances of something like the beginning in the first resident evil movie is very unlikely to happen as fast as it was shown in a hospital or laboratory setup.

[@RhapsodyinLingo]

Me, hearing about BSL levels while preparing for my British Sign Language level 1 exam:

[@cheeselover626]

This reminds me a lot of the short story Andromeda Strain; i.e. layers of security for unidentified substance investigation

[@matthewsermons7247]

The Bio-isolation facility depicted in Michael Crichton's Andromeda Strain had some pretty interesting safety measures. Protocols in addition to BSL-4 included UV exposure baking the top layer of skin and even automated tranquilizer turrets monitoring the ventilation ducts, lest any lab animals get loose.

[@joeycaridi3030]

Fun Fact: "BSL" but in a video game called: Metroid Fusion stands for "Biologic Space Laboratories" and if the disease called the X-Parasite from the game was in real life then it would have a BSL rating of 10 because it can infect living organisms with the X and turn them into the X like Samus infected with the X becomes SA-X and Metroid parasites would also have a BSL level of 10 as well

[@nah95]

The Hitman Sapienza map taught me a lot about clandestine biosafety labs.

[@Captain.Mystic]

Before i start this, im reminded of that scene in the planet of the apes remake where one scientists suit breaks and is just... allowed to go home, there isnt an immediate quarantining, there seemed to be nothing in place to prevent more infections, there seemed to be no added security in place to watch over the procedure after the last incident of a monkey literally breaking windows in panic. I dont know if it was intentional but there was very little in place to suggest if the theme was "dont trust scientists with viruses" or "dont trust the rich asshat to fund your safety measures out of good will". But given not even the scientists seemed to even suggest that he get put in a private room for a few weeks to test the effects of the virus then im gonna say its the former. Alright watching the video.

[@dogwithamug]

It's still insane these labs are in large cities like Atlanta, which also has one of the busiest airports in the world

[@bengoacher4455]

I used to decontaminate labs up to BSL 3. He's dead right about the ballache of getting prepared for it. What isn't mentioned here is the heat that you work with. You are trapped in a bubble with no ventilation to the outside world. You get hot, very hot, and sweaty. The good news is beer never tasted so good after a day working in one of those labs

[@JakeDelanois]

This underscores the diligence of all the scientists and laboratory assistants working to keep us safe from potential biohazards.

[@0o0ification]

Good to know that Balloon Boy is now a laudable career path.

[@sh0gun1223]

As somebody who works in a BSL2 testing for Covid and flu, I can confirm that I am a baby 2:46. Covid got bumped down from BSL 3 after the emergency declaration got rescinded, maybe even earlier.

[@WyattMonroe-zs6vw]

I always wondered about lab safety practices, great video.

[@punkdigerati]

I did catering at a BSL-4 lab once. Just in the courtyard outside, but still had to give away pretty much all my personal information just to be there.

[@SSerilumm]

I work at the BSL-4 lab in Winnipeg, MB so it was cool to already know this😎

[@JBMuffinman187]

Smock time is paid time (at least in MN, my home) so being late only means to the time clock outside all the fancy PPE

[@FrostyFrostySnow]

I would have preferred a video about the first kind of lab but this was really interesting

[@paulbasketball6201]

This is about as half as interesting as a video by my favourite channel FAI would have been

[@danielduncan6806]

The human is ALWAYS the weakest link in any security system. All of that security is completely useless when one person can make a simple, and very understandable human mistake and ruin it all.

[@ExperimentIV]

@@danielduncan6806 i like when a human forgets to dispose of a smallpox vial responsibly and then they find it years later, just vibing in a way less secure lab than it should ever be in

[@rtthyj]

Part of security is making sure there's as little room/possibility for any human error that leads to dangerous consequences to occur. You can never perfect it and there's always some kind of a chance that something will happen but considering that security systems are designed to reduce human factor as much as possible calling them useless is kinda weird.

[@509734]

I’m calling it now. One day smallpox will return with a vengeance and we’ll know why

[@glauberglousger956]

Replace Humans with machines Can't be infected, and if maintenance is needed, use another machine

[@nixielee]

and in real life someone is having a big mac in a BSL-3 right now with his mates

[@ryanpayne7707]

If the government inspector isn't there...

[@1.4142]

The school fridge is a BSL-5 lab.

[@thomashygum5310]

There's a really nice video from a BSL-4 lab i berlin where they show how everything works.

[@pinkrose8272]

I worked in a bio safety 2 lab at my colleges. I worked with frozen howler monkey poo. So even though it wasn’t an exact disease because it had the potential of carrying one that humans can get we needed all taht gear and doors for safety. It was a pretty chill job though and working with monkey pop is a pretty wild first ever job to have had (especially as I’m not a scientist or researcher at all).

[@trinomial-nomenclature]

I initially went to university to get a degree in microbiology and my goal was to work in a BSL - 4 lab. Things didn't work out as planned and I switched my major to Psychology. I'm still fascinated by microbiology though.

[@Nooticus]

4:15 heyyy my uni just got featured in a HAI video im so proud haha

[@557samma]

That's a golden retriever

[@stephaniefoster8603]

Good video, Sam and team. Can confirm that BSL-4 scientists leave the building nude.

[@General12th]

Hi Sam! RIP Amy for breaking into the American lab and infecting herself with smallpox while researching this video. You should have given her a raise.

[@therongjr]

I work in BSL-3 with respirator and showering barriers. It is VERY ANNOYING to get in and realize that you forgot something on the outside!

[@fish_doc]

It also SUCKS when you are 20-30min into a several hour project and suddenly have to pee really bad.

[@RealTal.]

Great animation on this one

[@NickHammer99]

When i was 8-9 i had some weird obsession with bsl levels and pathogens. I remember reading the smallpox Wikipedia article and it had a picture of a kid with smallpox and it scared me

[@shriyaatmakuri8045]

Sir, that is a golden retriever!!

[@tomsoki5738]

There’s smallpox at Porton Down in the UK too, but it’s a military facility so I’m not sure they are allowed to say anything about it. Just a known thing

[@uss_04]

Brb rewatching clips from The Last Ship

[@joshuapatrick682]

By outsourcing it to other countries. Like they mentioned in that Nature article in 2015 about the ethics of human bioengineering bat coronaviruses in those labs.

[@kellybasham3113]

Love your videos

[@davidtingley9119]

The BSC technique being used at 2:30 is no good. Sash is way too high, and they are practically pipetting from a sample tube right at the edge of the hood. Sterility and safety issue.

[@David-sw3iy]

The left your glasses in the car part made me laugh

[@betoa2741]

i currently work in one such lab at the CDC and can confirm I leave the building nude

[@ChrisHowe-Smith]

Me, not 20 minutes ago: “Huh, wonder when HAI will post again, it’s been a minute” HAI: “Hello there” Me: 😮

[@Kruimeldief]

The football field joke is genius.

[@JuMa-m9i]

Ah, the quintessential virus outbreak story: it "mysteriously" slips out of a virologist's lab, and boom, the entire world pays the price.

[@johnladuke6475]

Wendover Construction... government contractor... bricks... so many things are making sense! Hey, why's that van outside?

[@JoshuaMola-rw4fq]

“So I sent my outside correspondent Amy to go check out the lab disguised as an employee“ - Parallel Universe Sam

[@DunDun-e43]

Some thing for constructing clean air room and special seismic and any vibration resistant building for chip making, only a handfull company does them and the main one holds more then the rest. At least when it come to specific companies as it may vary, as it is even more specialised as evolution some company specialise working with only one other company, the rest being side gigs of a lower level in between big project usually often

[@magiciangob]

Glad to see some bricks there at the end. Brought the whole video together.