2006/7 Survey of Institutional Biosafety Committees

Have we received your reply? Table of IBCs Surveyed and Replies Received Survey News Biosafety Bites (2006/7) Numbers 13 and higher Latest: The Bird Flu Accident that Officially Didn't Happen in Texas (11 Jan 2007, with 26 Jan 2007 update) IBC EnFARCEment II: OBA Tackles the Salk Institute (11 Dec 2006) IBC EnFARCEment: OBA "Investigates" the Venter Institute (1 Dec 2006) Biosafety Bites (2004) Numbers 1 through 12

New! IBC Minutes Archive Exclusive: IBC minutes from 210+ institutions. (News release on the archive) The Federal Guidelines Say: "shall be made available to the public upon request." DEADLINE: 6 NOVEMBER 2006 Minutes Requested Minutes Recieved** Percentage Replying Current percentage that will be the subject of a complaint Complaints Filed 438 291 66.6% > 33.4% 127 * Includes some obviously problematic minutes due to redactions, timeframe covered, lack of meetings, etc.

In 2004, the Sunshine Project conducted its first survey of Institutional Biosafety Committees. The report of that survey can be downloaded here. Although the 2006 survey will reprise some features of the first, this survey will have a significantly different focus and rely on additional sources. Questions concerning the survey can be directed to Edward Hammond at +1 512 494 0545 or tsp [at] sunshine-project.org.

The purpose of this page is to provide information about the Sunshine Project 2006 Survey of Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBCs). The survey group consists of 438* IBCs registered with the National Institutes of Health Office of Biotechnology Activities (NIH OBA). Provided that there is no other rDNA research at the institution, IBCs registered solely for reasons related to human gene therapy trials are not part of the survey. The survey began on 13 March 2006. A reply is required by the NIH Guidelines on Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules at Section IV-B-2-a(7), which stipulates that IBC minutes shall be made available to the public upon request. Replies may be made by US mail (PO Box 41987, Austin, TX 78704) or by electronic mail (PDF format preferred). Institutions that post their minutes online may simply advise us of the URL where they can be accessed. Fax replies are discouraged. The survey seeks to assess compliance with the NIH Guidelines and how (if) IBCs are going about addressing issues raised by the dramatic expansion of biodefense research, particularly studies involving the handling of biological weapons agents (select agents).

 

*Originally reported as 445. Three institutions with two different IBCs (according to OBA records) have instead replied with a single set of minutes.
One institution was listed twice. Another three solely had an IBC due to participation in a single HGT trial. This has reduced the survey group to 438.