Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC)

The IBC is a faculty-led committee appointed by the UCI Vice Chancellor for Research (VCR) and consists of experts in various fields, including biosafety, infectious disease, and recombinant/synthetic nucleic acids, etc. The IBC is responsible for establishing, monitoring and enforcing requirements for the safe use of hazardous biological materials and recombinant/synthetic nucleic acids to meet applicable regulations and guidelines.

The IBC reviews and approves protocols for research and teaching laboratories involving the following materials:

• Recombinant/synthetic nucleic acid molecules, viral vectors, CRSPR/CAS9, ZFN, etc.
  • (Basically, anything that is genetically modified or used to create genetic modifications)
• Infectious agents that can cause disease in humans and/or has significant environmental or agricultural impacts.
• Specific toxins listed on the Federal Select Agent website as Permissible Toxins.
• Human materials, blood, tissue, other specimens used in research and not clinical diagnosis.
• Non-human primate materials from old world monkeys of the genus macaque /Macaca.
• Genetically-modified animals, whole plants, and insects, etc.
• Animals or animal specimens known to be reservoirs/vectors of zoonotic diseases.

Resources

• IBC Charge
• IBC FAQs
• IBC’s position on Bunsen Burners use in Biosafety Cabinet
• IBC’s guidance on safe handling of human cell lines
• NIH Guidelines
• Transgenic Animals and the Use of rDNA in Animals
• NIH Lentiviral Vectors
• Human Gene Therapy (HGT)