IBC Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Per federal and state regulations, UC Irvine's Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) is required to review, approve, and maintain documentation on all protocols involving recombinant DNA.

If you intend to use certain biological agents and toxins known as “Select Agents,” you must notify the Biosafety Officer, directly as soon as possible at 949-824-6200. Select agents are those agents and toxins that have been determined by the federal government to have the potential to pose a severe threat to public health and safety and are under special restrictions.

For a list of all these agents, please go to the Federal Select Agent Program.

Experiments involving the following must be registered with the IBC:

• Pathogens affecting humans, animals, or plants;
• Materials potentially containing human pathogens (e.g., unfixed human specimens, human blood);
• Recombinant DNA molecules including viral vectors;
• All cell and organ cultures of human origin, including well established cell lines, human embryonic stem cells, and pluripotent cells and their derivatives
• De novo generation of transgenic animals (using recombinant DNA technology to add foreign DNA or subtract a portion of the animal's genome);
  • Generation of de novo transgenic animals: Defined as the addition of foreign DNA or subtraction of a portion of the animal genome using recombinant DNA technology. Examples of recombinant DNA technology include (1) Direct microinjection of a chosen gene construct from another member of the same species or a different species into the pronucleus of a fertilized ovum; (2) Insertion of the desired DNA sequence by homologous recombination into an in vitro culture of embryonic stems and cells; (3) Use of a plasmid or virus to transfer the genetic material into germ cells. Breeding animals to generate transgenics need not be registered with the IBC. Those transgenics that already exist or which have been purchased are not subject to IBC registration.
• De novo generation of transgenic plants;
• Introduction of recombinant DNA (plasmids) or gene transfer vectors (including viral vectors) into human subjects;
• Introduction of genetically engineered micro-organisms or infectious agents into human subjects (including live vaccines if they are experimental in nature and/or not FDA approved for use in the specific study population.

Yes, UC Irvine IBC reviews and approves all research involving biohazardous materials, as defined below. IBC registration and approval of research involving these biohazards is required.

• Naturally occurring or engineered micro-organisms or viruses capable of causing disease in humans and/or animals. These are Risk Group (RG) 2, 3 or 4 pathogens as defined by NIH (Note: this list is not all inclusive). Those agents not listed in RG 2, 3, and 4 are not automatically or implicitly classified as non-pathogens or in RG
• A risk assessment must be conducted based on the known and potential properties of the agents and their relationship to agents that are listed. Consult the following websites for guidance:
  • NIH Guidelines
  • CDC list
• Human or mammalian cell lines (including embryonic & established), human tissue, or blood.
• Toxins derived from plants, animals, or micro-organisms that will have adverse effects in humans or animals.
• Plant pathogens or pests (arthropods, nematodes, weeds) that are regulated by state or federal policy or law. Consult the following website for up-to-date lists of regulated organisms:
  • USDA/APHIS
• Select biological agents that may adversely affect public health, animal or plant health, or animal or plant products. (Note: all possession and use of Select biological agents requires special registration through the Biological Safety Officer).
  • CDC Program

You must notify the IBC with regard to your proposed work. If your research is being “conducted entirely outside of UC Irvine and/or the U.S”, and no work will be done on the UC Irvine campus, review by UC Irvine's IBC may not be needed. However, institutional approval must be obtained from the collaborating institution. This must be submitted to ibc@uci.edu or faxed at 949-824-1325.

Revised policy approved by the IBC as of April 1, 2009, states there is no expedited review for IBC applications that fall under Sections III-A through III-D of the NIH guidelines. Only those projects that involve human or non-human primate materials and applications that fall under Section III –E of the NIH guidelines may be expedited. NIH requires that in order to determine the exempt status of an application, members must vote on the exemption requiring a quorum, therefore all rDNA projects must be reviewed at a convened meeting.

As of June 2010, the IBC has an online system – all renewals and new protocols need to be entered in this new system.

IBC protocol application

If your application is already in the new system, you must select the 3 year renewal form found within the system. You should not enter a new application. For assistance, please contact the IBC administrator at ibc@uci.edu.

IBC Protocol Modification Request (video)

• Use the online IBC system
  • How to Create a Modification (video)

Use the online system.

• How to Closeout a Protocol (PDF pending)

• If you are submitting online – your application will be sent to the IBC administrator
• If you are submitting additional documents or paper copies, please submit them to: ibc@uci.edu
  • Through intra-campus mail: EHS Zot 2725 IBC
  • Through fax: 949-824-1325

For more information, please go to the IBC website.

All posted dates are listed on the IBC website.

No, each principal investigator is responsible for full compliance with the NIH Guidelines in the conduct of recombinant DNA research and with university biosafety requirements. Investigators may not “piggy-back” on the existing IBC protocols of other investigators. Therefore, a separate IBC form must be completed for each grant, project, or set of experiments.

1. The PI or the department must notify EHS. For more information, please visit the Laboratory/Equipment Decommissioning Program. If you have additional questions, contact EHS at 949-824-6200 or email safety@uci.edu.
2. Complete the Biosafety Modification Form and email to ibc@uci.edu. Once you are set up in your new space, please contact the Biosafety Officer for your biosafety inspection. The BSO will also inspect the laboratory after the biological safety cabinet has been recertified to ensure compliance with recommendations stipulated by the IBC.

Call TSS, Inc. at 1-800-877-7742 as a service contract with the University of California is in place.

Yes, you must register with the IBC and comply with the USDA guidelines and regulations for containment of transgenic plant and plant materials. If your research involves infectious agents, potentially infectious material, or recombinant nucleic acids; you must register with the UCI Institutional Biosafety Committee. Since the university receives funding from NIH grants, ALL research conducted at UCI must comply with the NIH Guidelines and university policies. Please complete and submit an IBC form.

Yes, you must register with the IBC. Whether this research has to have full IBC review and approval depends upon the genes being introduced back into the Drosophila. The Biosafety Officer and/or the IBC Chair will determine whether full review and approval are required.

The UCI Institutional Biosafety Committee is now charged with registering ALL recombinant DNA research on UCI. Whether this research has to have full IBC review and approval depends upon the genes being introduced into the host cell. The Biosafety Officer and/or the IBC Chair will make this determination. Any work with human cells or tissue cultures, even commercially derived (e.g. ATCC ), is considered to be "other potentially infectious material" (OPIM) unless the investigator or commercial source characterizes and documents the material to be free of contamination from human hepatitis viruses, human immunodeficiency viruses, and other recognized or latent bloodborne pathogens. This is the OSHA interpretation of the Bloodborne Pathogens Standard (29 CFR 1910.1030, OSHA: Bloodborne Pathogens and Needlestick Prevention).

The other implications include the requirement that all personnel complete the Bloodborne Pathogen training offered on-line by Environmental Health and Safety at the UC Learning Center. The Biosafety Manual and Exposure Control Plan incorporate the required elements of the BBP Exposure Control Plan. Use this template to write the laboratory specific procedure and place a copy in your laboratory safety manual.

More information on this designation is available from the Biosafety Officer or on the IBC website.

Q. I only work with BSL-1 agents so I am exempt from any registration. Why are you bothering me?

The compliance required of you depends upon what exactly you are doing and with which agents. It may be that the wildlife you have been working with for ten years is now infected with a zoonotic, infectious agent. Or it may be that the NIH Guidelines and interpretations of those Guidelines have changed. The BSO can determine whether you must simply register (which involves completing the forms for BSO review) or whether the IBC must review and approve your work. Contact the Biosafety Officer as soon as possible (X4-9888 or s.hedayati@uci.edu) to discuss what you are doing in your research, present documentation of the biosafety level for the agents, and determine whether full review and approval are required.

The standards for research and clinical laboratories are published by the Centers for Disease Control, the Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL).

Yes, you must register with the IBC. This is research conducted in a research laboratory and by culturing the viruses, the number of infectious particles are increasing; therefore, increasing the theoretical risk to workers.

Yes, depending upon the types of genetic material being manipulated, this may be a simple registration with the Biosafety Officer or it may require full review and approval by the IBC. Please submit an IBC application.

You will need to submit a new application with the IBC if the research project involves a substantial change to the currently approved protocol, such as an increase in the biosafety containment level. A modification may be submitted for IBC review when changes are not considered to be substantial.

The IBC reserves the right to request a full renewal or a new application for any submitted modifications that are deemed to be substantial in nature.

For clinical trials, the IBC will review the application and supporting documents for the following:

• Consideration of issues and recommendations made by RAC.
• Investigator's or sponsor's response to RAC's recommendations (when applicable).
• Withholding IBC approval of the proposal until after RAC review.
• Ensuring compliance with data reporting, adverse event reporting, and surveillance.

Will my laboratory be audited or inspected?

Yes, the Biosafety Division is responsible for conducting periodic laboratory inspections. The biosafety staff visits each laboratory each time a protocol is submitted to verify compliance. In addition, university laboratories are subject to inspection by federal, state, and local regulatory agencies as well as funding and accrediting agencies.

There is no prescribed requirement for the order in which IACUC and IBC applications are submitted; however, IACUC final approval will not be granted until IBC approval has been received. It is advisable to submit your IBC proposal either before or at the same time as when you submit your IACUC proposal to avoid delays.

If registration forms are received before a submission deadline, it will be reviewed at the next IBC meeting. After committee review, the Principal Investigator will receive notice of the meeting results approximately 2-7 days after the meeting. This notice will be in the form of an approval letter or a memo, with additional questions from the committee. Final approval will then depend on how quickly the questions are resolved.

If this is a renewal, you should submit your protocol 60 days before the expiration date. Notifications are sent to the PI via e-mail 90, 60, and 30 days in advance.

The committee meets monthly to review and approve protocols. Protocols which are received 3 weeks in advance of a meeting will be on the agenda, so it will take 4–6 weeks, depending on when a protocol is submitted. Most protocols are completed with one review; however, if follow-up with a PI is needed, a protocol may be deferred to the next meeting which would delay the protocol for approximately 4 more weeks. The PI is notified of the result following any IBC meeting in which the protocol is discussed.

Responses to the additional questions from the IBC should be submitted to ibc@uci.edu.

The IBC prefers you to submit a revised application with your responses to the additional questions unless a revised registration form is explicitly requested.

The IBC review process considers the following points:

• Independent determination of the biosafety level for the location appropriate to the research proposal by review of the following:
  • Vectors and host systems proposed for use in the research
  • Employee exposure, safety, and risk potential
  • Environmental considerations
• Evaluation of facilities, procedures, practices, and training of personnel
• Ensuring compliance with Appendix M of the NIH Guidelines (if applicable to the proposal).
• Assurance that no clinical trial participants are enrolled until the RAC (Recombinant Activities Committee, through OBA) review process is complete (when applicable).
• Consideration of issues and recommendations made by RAC for clinical trial proposals and the Investigator's response to RAC's recommendations (when applicable).
• Withholding institutional approval of the proposal until after the RAC review process has been completed and the appropriate documentation has been received by both the Principal Investigator and the IBC (when applicable).
• Ensuring compliance with data reporting, adverse event reporting, and surveillance.

Yes, registration with the IBC is based on the biological materials used in your experiments, not on funding.

Yes, since the university receives funding from NIH grants, ALL recombinant DNA research conducted at the university has to comply with the NIH Guidelines and university policies. All recombinant DNA research must be reviewed by the IBC.

Probably not. Check with the Principal Investigator of your fellowship position. If that person is registered with the IBC and your research is part of his/her research, then you do not have to register again. However, if your research will be quite different from the protocol that received IBC approval (e.g., uses different recombinant DNA constructs or different biohazards), then you and the Principal Investigator need to register your project with the IBC.

The IBC welcomes anyone interested in committee membership. If you would like additional information about the Committee, please contact the IBC Administrator at 949-824-8024 or ibc@uci.edu.

The IBC is responsible for monitoring and ensuring compliance as well as review and approval of all research projects that involve biological material including recombinant DNA materials and human gene therapy/gene transfer protocols. IBC's were established under the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules to provide local review and oversight of nearly all forms of research utilizing recombinant DNA . Over time, many institutions have chosen to assign their IBC's the responsibility of reviewing a variety of experimentation that involves biological materials (e.g., infectious agents) and other potentially hazardous agents (e.g., carcinogens). This additional responsibility is assigned entirely at the discretion of the institution. UC Irvine's biosafety policy mandates review of all potential biohazardous agents and recombinant DNA research.

UC Irvine's IBC is charged with the following responsibilities:

1. Review and approval of ALL research proposals that include biological agents and recombinant DNA.
2. Approval of safety practices.
3. Setting biosafety containment levels (Section III-D-2-b, III-D-5; NIH Guidelines).
4. Conducting periodic review to ensure compliance – lab inspections are conducted on a annual basis.
5. Oversee biosafety training practices.
6. Reporting significant problems or violations of the NIH Guidelines.
7. Performance of such other functions as deemed necessary by the institution (Section IV-B-2; NIH Guidelines).

The frequency of IBC meetings is commensurate with the volume of protocols needing review, the nature and risks of the research, and the need for continuing oversight. The committee meets as needed (typically every month) and follows the guidelines provided by the NIH Office of Biotechnology Activities (OBA) involving research with recombinant DNA.

The IBC uses many of the following for guidance or you may contact the Biosafety Officer for advice (X49888 or s.hedayati@uci.edu):

• Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL)
• NIH Guidelines
• American Type Culture Collection (ATCC)

Risk groups are a classification system for etiological agents; the lower the risk – the lower the risk group class. The Biosafety Level refers to the physical and procedural barriers used to contain an etiological agent. Risk groups and biosafety containment levels are not proportional determinations.

The IBC application provides additional information regarding risk groups and biosafety levels. If you are unsure of the proper determinations after reviewing the information in the application, please contact the IBC Administrator at 949-824-8024 or by email at ibc@uci.edu.

The tables below give a brief summary of Risk Groups (RG) and Biosafety Levels (BSL). For more detailed information, refer to the Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories (BMBL) or the NIH Guidelines: NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules.

** Special requirements – needle protective devices should be used for injection procedures when possible, sealed rotor heads and/or canisters should be used for centrifugation and opened only in a biosafety cabinet, and use only ultracentrifuges fitted with HEPA filters.

Screening for Replication Competent Virus - Recombination events or contamination from wild-type virus can result in the presence of replication competent virus (RCV) in a population of replication deficient viral vectors. The IBC recommends testing for the presence of RCV in viral stocks to be used for in vivo experiments.

You can request a copy at ibc@uci.edu or you can ask your PI for a copy. All approval letters are sent to the responsible principal investigator.

For the latest Hepatitis B information, please visit the EHS Occupational Health.

The IBC uses the BMBL (above), or the American Type Culture Collection (ATCC), Health Canada, or comparable source.