November 29, 2022 By Kewaunee International Group Comments are Off

Biosafety Level Facilities Plants Insects And Aquatic Organism

Biosafety level facilities are specialised research laboratories dealing with infectious agents and pathogens. Research involving infectious & genetically modified organisms requires the protection of the laboratory personnel, environment, and the community. In today’s research savvy world, it’s important to understand the different biosafety levels mandated by compliance organisations and how they’re differentiated.

The biosafety levels provide protective measures and command the work practices appropriate to the research.

Organism	Facility Designation	Safety Levels
Microorganisms	Biosafety Level (BSL)	BSL-1 to BSL-4
Animal	Animal Biosafety Level (ABSL)	ABSL-1 to ABSL-4
Plant	Plant Biosafety Level (PBSL)	PBSL-1 to PBSL-4
Arthropods/Insects	Insect Biosafety Level (IBSL)	IBSL-1 to IBSL-4
Aquatic organisms	Aquatic Organism Biosafety Level (AqBSL)	AqBSL-1 to AqBSL-3

Source: Department of Biotechnology, India

In our previous posts we explored the guidelines for BSL facilities and Animal biosafety (ABSL) facilities. In this blog, we’re going to focus on the biosafety level facilities for plants, insects, and aquatic organisms, as prescribed by the Department of Biotechnology in India.

Plant Biosafety Level (PBSL)

Depending on the nature of work, for experiments on plants, four biosafety levels laboratories are specified. The levels, PBSL-1-4, include structures comprising greenhouses, screen houses and flexible film plastic structures.

Biosafety Level	Facility Description
PBSL-1	PBSL-1 applies to structures comprising greenhouses, screen houses and flexible plastic film structures for: Experiments on plants involving Risk Group (RG) 1 organism (e.g., non-pathogenic nitrogen fixing bacteria and Agrobacterium spp.) Category I genetic engineering on plants which generally do not pose significant risks to laboratory workers, community, or the environment
PBSL-2	PBSL-2 applies to structures comprising greenhouses, screen houses and flexible plastic film structures for: Experiments on plants involving RG 2 organism Experiments using plant associated transgenic insects or small animals as long as they pose no threat to managed or natural ecosystems. Category II genetic engineering on plants which may pose low-level risks to laboratory workers, community, or the environment.
PBSL-3	PBSL-3 applies only to greenhouses for: Experiments on plants involving RG 3 organism Category III & above genetic engineering on plants which generally do not pose moderate to high risks to laboratory workers, community, or the environment
PBSL-4	PBSL-4 applies only to greenhouses for: Experiments which involve certain exotic, readily transmissible infectious organisms or potentially serious pathogens Category III and above genetic engineering on plants involving biopharming experiments in which bioactive compounds (e.g., vaccines) are produced in GE plants

Insect Biosafety Level (IBSL)

Insect Biosafety Level (IBSL) Facilities are intended to prevent escape and establishment of the experimental arthropods into the natural environment and ensure the safety of the laboratory personnel in the facility.

Biosafety Level	Facility Description
IBSL-1	IBSL-1 are suitable for maintenance, rearing and to conduct laboratory level experiments with terrestrial arthropods that are: Uninfected by infectious agents and are present in the same geographic area. Genetically engineered arthropods with genes from RG 1 microorganisms and other non-pathogenic organisms provided the genetic engineering process has no, or only negative effects on viability, survivorship, host range, or vector capacity. Challenged or infected with GE microorganisms that fall under RG 1.
IBSL-2	IBSL-2 are suitable for maintenance, rearing and to conduct laboratory level experiments with terrestrial arthropods that are: Infected with or suspected to be infected with RG 2 microorganisms or other pathogenic organisms that may cause animal and/or human diseases. Genetically engineered arthropods with genes from RG 2 microorganisms and other non-pathogenic organisms provided the genetic engineering process has no, or only negative effects on viability, survivorship, host range, or vector capacity. Challenged or infected with GE microorganisms that fall under RG 2.
IBSL-3	IBSL-3 are suitable for maintenance, rearing and to conduct laboratory level experiments with terrestrial and exotic arthropods that are: Infected with or suspected to be infected with RG 3 microorganisms or other pathogenic organisms that cause animal and/or human diseases. Genetically engineered arthropods with genes from RG 3 microorganisms and other pathogenic organisms. Genetically engineered to contain genes from RG 2 microorganisms where the genetic engineering process could positively affect viability, survivorship, host range, or vector capacity. Challenged or infected with GE microorganisms that fall under RG3.
IBSL-4	IBSL-4 are suitable for maintenance, rearing and to conduct laboratory level experiments with terrestrial and exotic arthropods that are: Infected with or suspected to be infected with RG 4 microorganisms. Unless notified, genetic engineering of arthropods with DNA from RG 4 microorganisms and any such exotic pathogens is not permitted currently in India

Aquatic Organism Biosafety Level (AqBSL)

The purpose of Aquatic Organism Biosafety Level (AqBSL) Facilities is primarily to prevent escape of aquatic animal pathogens into the natural aquatic environment so as to protect the environment and prevent spread of infectious diseases to vulnerable aquatic animal populations.

Biosafety Level	Facility Description
AqBSL-1	AqBSL-1 applies to storing, rearing and experiments with aquatic organisms that are: Uninfected and does not pose health threat to humans. Genetically engineered to contain genes from RG 1 microorganisms. Challenged or infected with GE microorganisms that fall under RG 1. Challenged or infected with pathogens specific for aquatic organisms that are not considered a risk to aquatic organisms or to the aquatic environment and are non-pathogenic to humans
AqBSL-2	AqBSL-2 applies to storing, rearing and experiments with aquatic organisms that are: Infected with or suspected to be infected with RG 2 microorganisms or aquatic organism pathogens. Genetically engineered to contain genes from RG 2 microorganisms and other non-pathogenic organisms provided the genetic engineering process does not increase virulence and environmental fitness of the organism. Challenged or infected with GE microorganisms that fall under RG 2.
AqBSL-3	AqBSL-3 applies storing, rearing and experiments with aquatic organisms that are: Challenged, infected, or suspected to be infected with RG 3 microorganisms. Challenged, infected, or suspected to be infected with aquatic organism pathogens that could harm aquatic environment, if released. Genetically engineered to contain genes from RG 2 microorganisms where the genetic engineering positively affects environmental fitness and virulence.
AqBSL-4	At this time, there are no pathogens requiring BSL-4 type containment for aquatic organisms i.e. AqBSL-4.

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