IBC - Animal Carcass Donation
About This Policy
- Effective date:
- 09/30/2009
- Last updated:
- 02/27/2024
- Policy Contact:
Research Safety Office
ibc@iu.edu
Reason for Policy
The NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acids (NIH Guidelines) require that all materials containing recombinant DNA be appropriately contained and inactivated before disposal to protect against the release of these organisms outside the laboratory or to the environment. This includes animal tissues, carcasses, and animal bedding.
2.0 - Policy Statement
To inform individuals that donations of animal carcasses used in research studies at IU to outside entities (i.e., wildlife rehabilitation centers, public museum exhibits, K-12 schools) for non-research purposes is prohibited unless prior approval is obtained from the Institutional Biosafety Committee.
3.0 - Procedures
Unless prior approval is obtained from the Institutional Biosafety Committee, no animal carcasses used in IU research studies may be donated to any outside entity. This policy does not apply to the donation of carcasses or tissues to investigators involved in collaborative research projects at other research institutions (e.g., universities, corporate research divisions, government research agencies) or to scientific research collections at museums. If carcasses to be donated are from research animals subject to Institutional Biosafety Committee oversight at IU (e.g., carcasses from transgenic or pathogen-infected animals), comparable oversight should be in place at the receiving institution and all biosafety regulations pertaining to the transport of such materials must be followed.