Office of Environmental Health & Safety

Institutional Biosafety Committee: Principal Investigator Resources National Science Foundation DNA Guidelines*

The following information was taken directly from the National Science Foundation's Grant Policy Manual* (Courtesy: National Science Foundation) 712 Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules 712.1 Applicability This section applies to all research, for which NSF research grant funds are used, that falls within the scope of the Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant DNA Molecules (NIH Guidelines) (http://www4.od.nih.gov/oba/rac/guidelines/guidelines.html), as amended in January 2001, hereafter referred to as the "Guidelines". 712.2 Policy NSF grantees performing research within the U.S. that falls within the scope of the Guidelines shall comply with the Guidelines, including the procedural requirements and any subsequent revisions as they are published in the Federal Register. Grantee responsibilities include:    1. Each organization involved in the conduct of NSF-supported recombinant DNA research subject to the Guidelines must have a standing Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) as specified in Section IV of the Guidelines.    2. Recombinant DNA research subject to the Guidelines must be registered with the IBC indicating compliance with the containment requirements specified in Part III of the Guidelines. IBCs are required to keep records of recombinant DNA research conducted at their organization in a form that is available to NSF upon request. 712.3 Research Requiring Prior Approval of the Director, NIH In certain instances research should not be initiated or registered with IBCs prior to approval and determination of containment level by the Director, NIH. Normally such experiments are reviewed by the Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee before a decision is made by the Director, NIH. Such instances are:    1. research for which containment levels are not explicitly specified by the Guidelines;    2. research involving experiments prohibited by the Guidelines, i.e., requests for exceptions to the Guidelines; and    3. requests to perform experiments without regard to the containment specified in the Guidelines, i.e., exemptions from the Guidelines. 712.4 Recombinant DNA Research Outside the U.S. Recombinant DNA research within the scope of the Guidelines that is performed outside of the U.S. using funds provided by NSF for transportation, salaries or direct research expenses must comply with the U.S. or host country standards. If the research is to be carried out in a country that has adopted guidelines comparable to those of the U.S., a document with information and endorsements assuring compliance to the host organization standards must be submitted to NSF. NSF funds may not be used to carry out research using recombinant DNA in a country that has not adopted national guidelines unless the research is in full compliance with the Guidelines and the procedures required for NSF-supported research within the U.S.

*National Science Foundation.  Section 710 Protection of Living Organisms of Chapter VII Other Grant Requirements in Grant Policy Manual. Arlington, VA: National Science Foundation. NSF 05-13. July 2005 (http://www.nsf.gov/pubs/manuals/gpm05_131/gpm7.jsp)

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Updated: 22 February 2006