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Research Administration Office
Institutional Biosafety Committee
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Training/Education

The Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) supervises the use of recombinant DNA and handles other biological safety and hazard issues in experiments conducted at Brigham Young University. Information on submitting an IBC protocol can be found here: iRIS Online System.

Experiments that require IBC approval

  • Experiments using CRISPR, zinc-finger, TALEN, or similar targeted gene editing in RG 1, 2, 3, or restricted organisms or cells.
  • Experiments using adenovirus, adeno-associated virus, or lentiviral vectors.
  • Use of RG2 microorganisms or toxins.
  • All cell and organ cultures of human origin, including well established cell lines, human embryonic stem cells, and pluripotent cells and their derivatives.
  • Any experiment using RG3 or 4 organisms.
  • Any experiment using a select agent or toxin.
  • Any human gene transfer research.
  • Deliberate formation of recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules containing genes for the biosynthesis of toxin molecules lethal for vertebrates at an LD50 of less than 100 nanograms per kilogram body weight (e.g., microbial toxins such as the botulinum toxins, tetanus toxin, diphtheria toxin, and Shigella dysenteriae neurotoxin).
  • Whole plants regenerated from plant cells and tissues cultures that do not remain axenic cultures.
  • Large scale microorganism or toxin experiments (more than 10 liters of volume in a single culture vessel).
  • Deliberate introduction of genes coding for the biosynthesis of molecules that are toxic for vertebrates with an LD50 greater than 100 nanograms/kg but less than or equal to 100 micrograms/kg.

Experiments that are exempt from IBC Review

  • Synthetic nucleic acid molecules that: (1) can neither replicate nor generate nucleic acids that can replicate in any living cell (e.g., oligonucleotides or other synthetic nucleic acids that do not contain an origin of replication or contain elements known to interact with either DNA or RNA polymerase), and (2) are not designed to integrate into DNA and (3) do not produce a toxin that is lethal for vertebrates at an LD50 of less than 100 nanograms per kilogram body weight.
  • Escherichia coli K-12 host-vector systems, with some exceptions:
    • the E. coli host does not contain conjugation proficient plasmids or generalized transducing phages; or lambda or lambdoid or Ff bacteriophages or non-conjugative plasmids are used as vectors.
  • Kluyveromyces lactis host-vector Systems.
  • Bacillus subtilis or Bacillus licheniformis host-vector systems.
  • The purchase or transfer of transgenic rodents.
  • Generation of certain biosafety level 1 transgenic rodents via breeding.
  • BSL1 organisms or cells that have not been modified or manipulated (e.g., encapsulated into synthetic or natural vehicles).

For more information please contact Rebecca Scholl in the College of Life Science.