Biosafety Resources
Federal Government Resources
The NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acids (NIH Guidelines) provide details regarding "the practices for constructing and handling: (i) recombinant nucleic acid molecules, (ii) synthetic nucleic acid molecules, including those that are chemically or otherwise modified but can base pair with naturally occurring nucleic acid molecules, and (iii) cells, organisms and viruses containing such molecules." As of April 2024, this also includes research involving gene drive modified organisms (GDMOs). The NIH Guidelines are maintained by the Office of Science Policy (OSP) at the NIH.
The NIH Guidelines includes details on the classification of human disease-causing agents based on hazard. In this classification system, etiologic agents are assigned to Risk Group 1 (RG1) through RG4 (with RG4 indicating the highest level of risk).
A list of agents by Risk Group can be found in Appendix B of the HTML version of the NIH Guidelines (alternatively, locate Appendix B on page 39 in the PDF version of the NIH Guidelines).
The Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (6th Edition), which is published by the CDC, is an essential resource for establishing practices that address the safe use of infectious pathogens and hazardous biological materials in biomedical research. Practices outlined in the BMBL are founded on two basic principles: containment and risk assessment. The BMBL includes practices appropriate for laboratory operations under Biosafety Level 1 (BSL-1) through BSL-4 containment.
The IBC must also consider occupational regulations maintained by the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA). The OSHA website includes a Laboratory Safety page, which includes information on working with small animals and using biological safety cabinets.
Links to Other Safety-Related Resources:
- Pathogen Safety Data Sheets and Risk Assessment - Pathogen Safety Data Sheets (PSDS) maintained by the Public Health Agency of Canada
- WHO Laboratory Biosafety Manual – Laboratory biosafety guidelines published by the World Health Organization (WHO)
- American Biological Safety Administration Risk Group Database App for iPhone
- WHO Biosafety Risk Assessment Tool for iPhone
- WHO Biosafety Risk Assessment Tool for Android