Aug. 12, 2025 Institutional Biosafety Committee Meeting Minutes

Present

Beth Ahner (animal containment expert), Jen Averill (public safety), Andrea Bertke (virology), Paige Bordwine (local non-affiliated member), Amy Brunner (plant containment expert), Clayton Caswell (Chair, bacteriology), Alan Ealy (animal science), Rajshekhar Gaji (parasitology), Aaron Gross (entomology), Karen Hall (animal containment expert), Timothy Jarome (Vice Chair, neurobiology), Katherine LaVallee (animal containment expert), Michael Miles (biosafety officer), Dennis Nolan (health and safety), Sally Paulson (virology), Pamela Ray (public health), Igor Sharakhov (gene drive modified organism expert), Laurie Spotswood (local non-affiliated member)

Excused Absences

Erin Gloag (bacteriology), Sandy Hancock (lab facilities), Kristin Knight (high containment), Calvin Lau (animal containment expert), Andrew Marinik (emergency management), Mike Mulhare (public safety), Xiaofeng Wang (plant containment expert), James Weger (virology)

Guests

Regina Allen (IBC non-voting contact, IBC Program), Ling Chen (IBC Program), Sara Cilino (health and safety), Allie Igwe (biological sciences), Sharad Jaswandkar (Institute for Critical Technology and Applied Science), Anna Kroner (biosafety officer; alternate member), Linsey Marr (civil and environmental engineering), Sarah Owen (health and safety), Allison Price (health and safety), A.J. Prussin (civil and environmental engineering), Peter Vikesland (civil and environmental engineering), Charlotte Waggoner (university biosafety officer; non-voting alternate)

Quorum

Five members are required to conduct business. 17 voting members were present at the start of the meeting.

Conflicts of Interest

Attendees were reminded that they are required to disclose conflicts of interest with applications being reviewed prior to the start of each discussion. Attendees with a conflict will be asked to leave the meeting during the members’ final discussion and vote.

AGENDA

1. With the establishment of a quorum, the Chair called the meeting to order at 2:00 p.m. This was an open meeting. 
   
   
2. The Minutes of the IBC meeting held on June 10, 2025 were reviewed at this time. No edits were requested [16 of 17 members present voted to approve the Minutes of the June 10, 2025 IBC meeting, to be posted online when legal counsel provides final approval; 1 of 17 members abstained]. The Minutes of the IBC meeting held on July 8, 2025 were reviewed at this time. No edits were requested [15 of 17 members present voted to approve the Minutes of the July 8, 2025 IBC meeting, to be posted online when legal counsel provides final approval; 2 of 17 members abstained].
   Dennis Nolan joined the meeting. There are 18 voting members present.
   
   
3. Seven renewal submissions and three new submissions were discussed.
   
   
   1. Protocol 25-028, new submission. Dr. Igwe attended the meeting and provided an overview of the project. The principal investigator left the meeting during the IBC’s discussion and vote. The protocol involves the modification of RG1 E. coli, Pseudomonas putida, and Stenotrophomonas maltophilia SeITE02. Genes involved in phosphorus solubilization, siderophore production, and iron homeostasis will be deleted and expressed in the bacteria. Cultures of wild type and modified strains of the bacteria will be mixed to form synthetic microbial communities. The synthetic microbial communities will be added to the growth media of wild type sweet potato plants, and chemical analysis will be completed on the plant, media, and microbial community to identify correlations in changes in plant growth. The plants will not be modified. The bacteria are RG1 and RG2. The containment levels that will be used include BSL-1, BSL-2, BL1, BL2, and BL2-P. The applicable NIH Guidelines are III-D-1, III-E, III-E-2, and III-F-8-C-II. The laboratory facilities were reviewed and they are appropriate for the work performed. The plant work will be performed in growth chambers and a greenhouse, and the SOPs in place for containment of the plant growth media with the modified microbial communities is appropriate. The members have recommended that the principal investigator perform the work in growth chambers initially, and use the greenhouse after those initial experiments are completed. The rsNA & Toxin form, lab sketches, and SOPs were reviewed and they are appropriate for the work performed. The biosafety manual has a minor edit that is needed, but is otherwise appropriate. The BSL-2 labs, growth chamber, and greenhouse will need to be inspected. No major concerns were raised, and minor edits will be required for final approval. On a motion and a second, a majority of the IBC members voted to Require Modifications to protocol 25-028 with final review by the IBCP and biosafety officer after the edits are completed [18 of 18 members present voted to Require Modifications to the protocol].
      
      
   2. Protocol 25-029, new submission. Dr. Vikesland attended the meeting and provided an overview of the project. The principal investigator left the meeting during the IBC’s discussion and vote. There is no rsNA involved with the protocol, and therefore the work is not applicable to the NIH Guidelines. The protocol involves the testing of biosensors to target RG2 bacteria, RG2 viruses, and RG2 fungi. The bacterial, viral, and fungal cultures are prepared in the labs of the co-investigators, following approved procedures described in the individual IBC protocols for those laboratories. The laboratories have been recently inspected, except one additional BSL-2 space that will be inspected by EHS. The members discussed the experiments, facilities, risk assessment, SOPs, training, and PPE. No major concerns were raised, and minor edits will be required for final approval. On a motion and a second, a majority of the IBC members voted to Require Modifications to protocol 25-029 with final review by the IBCP and biosafety officer [18 of 18 members present voted to Require Modifications to the protocol].
      
      
   3. Protocol 25-027, new submission. Dr. Jaswandkar attended the meeting and provided an overview of the lab. The principal investigator left the meeting during the IBC’s discussion and vote. There is no rsNA involved with the protocol, and therefore the work is not applicable to the NIH Guidelines. The protocol is for the BSL-2 spaces of the Biomaterials Characterization Laboratory, that serves as a core facility for researchers at the university. The core provides equipment for researchers at the university to use, including imaging equipment, microplate readers, flow cytometry and sorting, and a crystat. BSL-1 and BSL-2 materials are expected to be used. Core staff will maintain the equipment and provide training to researchers. Materials are expected to be prepped in the labs of the researchers, but biosafety cabinets are available for prepping of time-sensitive samples. The laboratory will be inspected by EHS. The members discussed the equipment and procedures, facilities, risk assessments, core SOPs, training, and PPE. All researchers will be required to have an active approved IBC protocol to use materials requiring BSL-2 containment at the core. Researchers using materials applicable to the NIH Guidelines will be required to include containment and disinfection plans in their own IBC protocols to be approved to use the core facility. No major concerns were raised, and minor edits will be required for final approval. On a motion and a second, a majority of the IBC members voted to Require Modifications to protocol 25-027 with final review by the IBCP and biosafety officer [18 of 18 members present voted to Require Modifications to the protocol].
      
      
   4. Protocol 19-034, renewal submission. Dr. He; did not attend the meeting. The protocol uses lentiviral and Sendai viral vector systems to express CRISPR/Cas9 elements to over-express and knockdown genes involved in cell division and differentiation and fluorescent reporters in cultured human and murine primary cells and cell lines. The modified cells, as well as replication deficient lentiviral particles expressing shRNA targeting the genes, peptides, metabolites, and cow milk extracelluar vesicles will be introduced into wild type or genetically modified mice to study the effects on the structure and function in models of myocardial infarction. Transgenic mice are obtained from vendors. The lentiviral particles and viral vectors are obtained from vendors. The agents used are RG1, RG2, and human and murine cells and tissues. The appropriate containment levels used are BSL-1, BSL-2, BL1, BL2, ABSL-1, and ABSL-2. The applicable NIH Guidelines are III-D-1, III-D-3, III-D-4, III-F-8-C-VII, and III-F-8-C-VIII. The facilities were reviewed and they are appropriate for the work performed. The lab inspection will be performed by EHS. The BSL-1 self-inspection checklist, rsNA & Toxin form, PSDS forms, and SOPs were reviewed and they are appropriate for the work performed. The lab sketches, biosafety manual, and one SOP have minor edits that are needed, but they are otherwise appropriate. No major concerns were raised, and minor edits will be required for final approval. On a motion and a second, a majority of the IBC members voted to Require Modifications to the renewal of protocol 19-034 with final review by the IBCP and biosafety officer after the edits are completed [18 of 18 members present voted to Require Modifications to the protocol].
      
      
   5. Protocol 19-038, renewal submission. Dr. Gregus; did not attend the meeting. The protocol uses transgenic rodents to study the neurobiology of motivative behavioral circuitry. The transgenic rodents are purchased from vendors. To evaluate the impact on disease development, commercially synthesized siRNA and shRNA are directly injected into rodents, and commercially purchased CRISPR plasmids or ribonucleoprotein complexes are directly injected into rodents. Primary murine or rat cells and purchased cell lines are used for in vitro luciferase expression, overexpression of gene targets, using siRNA and shRNA to knockdown gene targets, and using CRISPR to knockout gene targets. Gene targets are GPCR, lipoxygenases and Toll-like receptors. siRNA, shRNA, and CRISPR are plasmid constructs purchased from vendors. Fixed cells are used for imaging. The agents used are RG1, RG2, and human and rodent cells and tissues. The appropriate containment levels used are BSL-1, BSL-2, BL1, BL2, and ABSL-1. The applicable NIH Guidelines are III-D-4, III-E, III-F-8-C-I, III-F-8-C-II, and III-F-8-C-VII. The facilities were reviewed and they are appropriate for the work performed. The lab inspection will be performed by EHS. The BSL-1 self-inspection checklist, rsNA & Toxin form, PSDS forms, and SOPs were reviewed and they are appropriate for the work performed. The biosafety manual has a minor edit that is needed, but is otherwise appropriate. No major concerns were raised, and minor edits will be required for final approval. On a motion and a second, a majority of the IBC members voted to Require Modifications to the renewal of protocol 19-038 with final review by the IBCP and biosafety officer after the edits are completed [18 of 18 members present voted to Require Modifications to the protocol].
      
      
   6. Protocol 19-039, renewal submission. Dr. Shi; did not attend the meeting. The protocol uses lentivirus vector systems to knockdown gene expression of genes involved in nutrient sensing in cultured human, chicken, and mouse cell lines and mouse and pig primary cells. siRNA is used to manipulate expression of the genes in the cell cultures. CRISPR is used as an alternative method to knockout the genes in cell culture if siRNA fails to work. Transgenic mice, purchased from vendors, that carry cells tagged with fluorescent markers to obtain primary cells for in vitro work. The lab uses 2^nd generation lentiviral vectors. The 2^nd generation vectors have been used by the lab since 2018 because they found that their results were not robust when using 3^rd and 4^th generation systems due to the lower copy numbers. The IBC members reviewed the SOPs and precautions used by the lab, and determined that the lab can continue to use the 2^nd generation vectors previously purchased for their ongoing work. The agents used are RG1, RG2, and human, pig, chicken, and rodent cells and tissues. The appropriate containment levels used are BSL-1, BSL-2, BL1, BL2, and ABSL-1. The applicable NIH Guidelines are III-D-1, III-D-2, III-D-3, III-F-8-C-I, III-F-8-C-II, III-F-8-C-VII, and III-F-8-C-VIII. The facilities were reviewed and they are appropriate for the work performed. The lab inspection will be performed by EHS. The BSL-1 self-inspection checklist, rsNA & Toxin form, PSDS forms, and SOPs were reviewed and they are appropriate for the work performed. The biosafety manual and one SOP have minor edits that are needed, but they are otherwise appropriate. No major concerns were raised, and minor edits will be required for final approval. On a motion and a second, a majority of the IBC members voted to Require Modifications to the renewal of protocol 19-039 with final review by the IBCP and biosafety officer after the edits are completed [18 of 18 members present voted to Require Modifications to the protocol].
      
      
   7. Protocol 19-046, renewal submission. Ms. Lasley; did not attend the meeting. The protocol is for two instructional classes and therefore, the work is not applicable to the NIH Guidelines. The classes are General Microbiology Lab and Pathogenic Bacteriology Lab. The protocol involves the use of various RG2 bacteria for experiments performed by students to learn fundamental techniques necessary for working with microorganisms and for clinical identification of microorganisms. Teaching assistants prepare cultures requiring BSL-2 containment and a BSC. The laboratories have been recently inspected by EHS. The members discussed the experiments, facilities, risk assessment, student manual, SOPs, student and teaching assistant training, and PPE. No major concerns were raised, and minor edits will be required for final approval. On a motion and a second, a majority of the IBC members voted to Require Modifications to the renewal of protocol 19-046 with final review by the IBCP and biosafety officer [18 of 18 members present voted to Require Modifications to the protocol].
      
      
   8. Protocol 22-022, renewal submission. Dr. Lam; did not attend the meeting. The protocol uses wild type Pseudomonas aeruginosa, an ExoU in-frame deletion mutant of P. aeruginosa, and RG1 E. coli expressing ExoU on a plasmid to identify ExoU inhibitors. The bacteria are used to infect human cell lines to assess the ability of the inhibitors to inhibit the ExoU during in vitro infection. Additionally, the lab will generate mutants of Achromobacter xylosoxidans by knocking out genes shown through sequencing to be responsible for naturally occurring resistance to antibiotics used to treat A. xylosoxidans. The expectation is a reduction in resistance through the mutation. The goal is to determine the mechanism of antibiotic resistance. The A. xylosoxidans mutants and wild type strains will be administered to wild type and vendor-purchased Cftr-/- mice to assess the virulence level of the different isolates. Sequence tag-based analysis of microbial populations, dual-RNA sequencing, and flow cytometry will be used to assess outputs of infection and host-pathogen interactions. The agents used are RG1, RG2, and human cell lines. The appropriate containment levels used are BSL-1, BSL-2, BL1, BL2, ABSL-1, and ABSL-2. The applicable NIH Guidelines are III-D-1, III-D-2, III-D-4, III-E, III-F-8-C-II, and III-F-8-C-VII. The facilities were reviewed and they are appropriate for the work performed. The lab inspection will be performed by EHS. The rsNA & Toxin form, PSDS forms, biosafety manual, and SOPs were reviewed and they are appropriate for the work performed. No major concerns were raised, and minor edits will be required for final approval. On a motion and a second, a majority of the IBC members voted to Require Modifications to the renewal of protocol 22-022 with final review by the IBCP and biosafety officer after the edits are completed [18 of 18 members present voted to Require Modifications to the protocol].
      
      
   9. Protocol 22-026, renewal submission. Dr. Collins; did not attend the meeting. There is no rsNA involved with the protocol, and therefore the work is not applicable to the NIH Guidelines. The protocol involves work with human cell lines, primary cells, tissues, and bone. The members discussed the facilities, experiments, risk assessment, SOPs, training, and PPE. No major concerns were raised, and minor edits will be required for final approval. On a motion and a second, a majority of the IBC members voted to Require Modifications to the renewal of protocol 22-026 with final review by the IBCP and biosafety officer [18 of 18 members present voted to Require Modifications to the protocol].
      
      
   10. Protocol 22-044, renewal submission. Dr. Liao; did not attend the meeting. There is no rsNA involved with the protocol, and therefore the work is not applicable to the NIH Guidelines. The protocol involves isolation and detection of RG2 bacteria in environmental samples. The members discussed the facilities, experiments, risk assessment, SOPs, training, and PPE. No major concerns were raised, and minor edits will be required for final approval. On a motion and a second, a majority of the IBC members voted to Require Modifications to the renewal of protocol 22-044 with final review by the IBCP and biosafety officer [18 of 18 members present voted to Require Modifications to the protocol].
        
4. Other Business
   No other business was discussed.
   
   
5. Public Comments
   There were no public comments.
   
   
6. The next regularly scheduled IBC meeting will be held on Tuesday, Sept. 9, 2025, from 2 - 5 p.m.
   
   
7. With no further business, and with no objections from the members, the Chair adjourned the meeting at 3:36 p.m.

Minutes recorded by R. Allen.