The guidelines specify a number of different categories of rDNA/sNA molecules. One of the most important categories is the Exempt category. Experiments that qualify for this category do not need approval by the Stanford University Institutional Biosafety Committee (the Administrative Panel on Biosafety [APB], see Chapter 4). To determine if your experiments are exempt, you can check Section III, Category F in the NIH Guidelines; a short reference guide is presented in Table 1 and 2.
Table 1. Recombinant and Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules (NIH guidelines).
If your experiment is in an exempt category, APB approval is not necessary. If your experiment does not fall within the exempt categories, you MUST have current APB approval.
*The NIH has determined that rDNA/sNA from infectious agents of BL-2 (see Biosafety Levels for Biological Agents) or above is not exempt and must receive Biosafety approval. Additionally, certain cloning vectors, i.e. Adeno- or Sindbisbased vectors, or amphotropic MMLV based vectors, are some examples of rDNA that are non-exempt.
