Abstract
Aside from playing a vital part in overseeing the use of recombinant or synthetic nucleic acids used in vitro, in vivo, in utero, or ex vivo, Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBCs) oversee multiple aspects of research ranging from: performing risk assessments and mitigation, including assignment of biosafety levels and practices, NIH category designations related to the particular experiments per the NIH guidelines for research involving synthetic or nucleic acid molecules, agency reporting and approval of standard operation procedures used for animal research. Animal models are a core component of biological research and play a critical role in numerous aspects of studying human disease, including through the creation of transgenic animals, but they can also be used to research diseases that naturally occur within animal populations. They also present disadvantages and unique biosafety issues.