Institute Bio-Safety Committee (IBSC)

Institutional Bio-Safety Committee (IBSC) of JIPMER is a registered and accredited committee of Dept. of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology, Govt. of India. As per guidelines of DBT, IBSC primarily streamlines and facilitates the research dealing with genetically modified organisms (GMOs), living modified organisms (LMOs) and recombinant-DNA (rDNA) materials.

In India, GMOs and products thereof are regulated as per the “Rules for the manufacture, use/import/export and storage of hazardous microorganisms/ genetically engineered organisms or cells, 1989” (commonly referred as Rules, 1989) notified by the Ministry of Environment and Forests (MoEF), Government of India under the Environment (Protection) Act (1986). These rules are implemented by MoEF, the Department of Biotechnology (DBT), Ministry of Science and Technology and the State Governments through the six competent authorities notified under the Rules which are as follows:

  1. Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RDAC)
  2. Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBSC)

iii. Review Committee on Genetic Manipulation (RCGM)

  1. Genetic Engineering Appraisal Committee (GEAC)
  2. State Biotechnology Coordination Committee (SBCC)
  3. District Level Committee (DLC).

While the RDAC has advisory in function, IBSC, RCGM, and GEAC are involved in regulatory functions. SBCC and DLC are responsible for monitoring the activities related to GMOs in state/district level. RDAC, RCGM and GEAC are constituted at the central level by DBT and most. IBSCs of all organizations are working in the area of GMOs, SBCC in all states and DLCs in districts, wherever necessary.

Following are the members of JIPMER IBSC:

Chairman : Dr. DM Thappa, Dean (Research), JIPMER

Member Secretary :Dr. Rahul Dhodapkar, Professor., Dept. of Microbiology, JIPMER

DBT Nominee: Dr. Nandita Banaji, Prof. & Hd., Dept. of Microbiology, IGMCRI, Puducherry

Biosafety officer: Dr. Sunil Kumar Saxena, Professor (Senior Scale), Dept. of ENT, JIPMER

External Experts:       

  1. Vasuki Venkatesan, Scientist-E & ICMR-VCRC,
  2. J. Thanislass, Professor& Head., Dept. of Veterinary Biochemistry,

Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Veterinary and Animal Sciences (RGIVAS)

Internal Members:

  1. Bhawana Badhe, Professor (Senior Scale), Dept. of Pathology, JIPMER
  2. Sujatha Sistla, Professor (Senior Scale), Dept. of Microbiology, JIPMER 
  3. Nivedita Nanda, Additional. Prof., Dept. of Biochemistry, JIPMER
  4. Sadish Kumar Kamalanathan, Professor., Dept. of Endocrinology, JIPMER