Biosafety Policies
Effective immediately the following biosafety policies will apply to all users of the FCF (see Table 1 below).
In conjunction with our current policy regarding sorting of human samples only on sorters in biosafety cabinets (which came into effect November 16, 2009) we are implementing additional biosafety policies.
Users who will now need to alter currently used protocols in order to comply with these policies will be given a "grace period" until January 31, 2010 in which to do so. We understand that this deadline is fast approaching, but most applications will be minimally affected by paraformaldehyde fixation. Please contact Dr. Sherry Zhao or Julie Yuan if you would like protocols and expertise to help you adapt your application to accommodate fixation. We are confident that most users should be able to validate the use of fixation for their application by the January 31, 2010 deadline. Should you encounter difficulties meeting this deadline, please contact Dr. Sherry Zhao.
| Sample Type | Infectious Agent Status | Analysis ** | Viable Cell Sorting |
| Primary cells or cell lines from rodents or animals (excluding humans and non-human primates (NHP)) | RG-1* | Live cells permitted | Sorters without BSC permitted |
| Freshly isolated ex vivo cells (any tissue) or cultured cell lines from humans or NHP | Unknown (presumed positive for RG-2* agents) | Only fixed cells on analyzers (Live cells only on sorters with BSC) |
Sorters with BSC only |
| Tissues from animals xenografted with cells or cell lines from humans or NHP | Unknown (presumed positive for RG-2* agents) | Only fixed cells on analyzers (Live cells only on sorters with BSC) |
Sorters with BSC only |
| Primary human or animal cells from infected person or animal | Known RG-2* organism(s) | Only fixed cells on analyzers (Live cells only on sorters with BSC) |
Sorters with BSC only |
| Primary human or animal cells from infected person or animal | RG-3* or RG-4* organism(s) | Not permitted | Not permitted |
| Genetically engineered human or animal cells or cell lines | Retroviral, lentiviral or other potentially infectious RG-2* gene transfer vectors | Only fixed cells on analyzers (Live cells permitted on Canto-II in Dick Lenti-Lab or on sorters in BSC) |
To Be Determined by FCF Biosafety Committee (vector and gene transferred MUST be specified) |
| Yeast or bacteria | RG-2* organism | Requires FCF Staff assistance | Not permitted |
* Public Health Agency of Canada (PHAC) risk group (RG) classification scheme
Risk Group Classification for Infectious Agents.
** for analysis of cells when cells cannot be fixed (e.g. side population analysis, calcium flux assays and other such functional assays), analysis must be done on cell sorters in BSC