Biological, plant, soil and/or derivatives
All biological, plant, and soil materials need to be pre-approved by the ALS safety staff and/or LBNL Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) before you are allowed to bring/ship them to the ALS.
Provide specific details in Experiment Safety Assessment Form (ESAF) for the approval process.
Do plan ahead for a timely approval of samples.
For more information or questions, contact Julie Drotz.
Note: Samples arriving from international locations may require additional documentation. DO NOT ship or bring your sample(s) to the ALS without prior approval from Julie.
The following materials are NOT ALLOWED at the ALS:
- Live vertebrates
- Prions
- Risk Group 3 or 4 biological materials
The following materials may require additional (up to several months) review and approval time:
- Controlled Substance
Marijuana in any form is considered a Federal Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) Schedule I controlled substance. LBNL would need to have a DEA registration for the specific purpose or project. This process can take several months.
Following are some of the examples:
– Cannabis whole plants or part of plants such as flowers, seeds etc.
– Any extract from the Cannabis plants or part of the plant
– Isolated chemicals such as pure THC, cannabidiol, etc. – even if those pure chemicals were synthetically produced
For more information or questions, contact Julie Drotz.
- Human subjects [human tissues (including teeth), blood, bodily fluids etc.]
All materials derived from humans are required to be reviewed or declared exempt by user’s home institution’s Institutional Review Board (IRB). A valid approval letter must be attached in the ESAF. More information on Human Subjects Research can be found here: https://humansubjects.nih.gov/
Note: At LBNL, we do not provide IRB reviews for users.
- Human cells/cell lines
Work involving the use of viable primary human cell strains and established human cell lines are not allowed at the ALS beamlines. Only limited categories and quantities of established, commercially purchased human cell lines may be allowed at ALS beamlines.
Typically all human cells at LBNL (e.g., American Type Culture Collection cell lines) are considered blood borne pathogen (BBP) materials due to OSHA requirements.
- Recombinant materials
According to NIH guidelines, creation and use of organisms and viruses containing recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules require Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC) review. The review and approval at LBNL can take up to 2-3 months at LBNL.
If you are bringing recombinant materials, please submit your ESAF well in advance to get the approval.
Recombinant research includes experiments involving constructing and handling: a) recombinant nucleic acid molecules; b) synthetic nucleic acid molecules, including those that are chemically or otherwise modified but can base pair with naturally occurring nucleic acid molecules; and c) cells, organisms, and viruses containing such molecules.
- Pathogens, toxins, select agents
Only limited categories and quantities of pathogens, bio-toxins or select agents may be allowed at ALS beamlines.
- Regulated plant and soil
Foreign and domestic plant and soil samples may be regulated by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA), Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) or the California Department of Food and Agriculture (CDFA). As the Investigator, it is your responsibility to determine if your sample is categorized as “regulated” by the USDA, APHIS or CDFA. Regulated soil will require a Soil Permit and additional steps to transfer and work with your regulated soil sample(s) at the ALS.
Contact Julie Drotz well in advance of your experiment start date to arrange for transport and use of regulated soil samples at the ALS.
Note: DO NOT ship your soil sample(s) to the ALS without prior approval from Julie.
The following materials typically require shorter review and approval time:
- RG1 biological materials
Cells/cell lines/cell lysates
Identify the species, sources and other details for each sample that you are planning to bring.
Typically work involving the use of viable primary human cell strains or established human cell lines is not allowed at the ALS beamlines.
Microorganism and/or derivatives
Identify the species, sources and other details for each strain of microbial, fungal, viral or yeast species that you are planning to bring.
Macromolecules
Indicate which macromolecule you are bringing (Examples: protein, lipid, nucleic acid, synthetic sugar). Provide organism source and strain information and other details in the ESAF.
Isolated (non-recombinant) nucleic acids
Indicate if you are bringing non-recombinant nucleic acids (DNA, RNA) or peptides extracted and purified from organisms in a manner to render the material to be nonviable/noninfectious. Describe the general type or range of DNA/RNA/peptides and sources in the ESAF.
ALS Biology Lab
The Biology Lab is available for small-scale sample manipulations. The lab is equipped with biosafety cabinets, incubators, small centrifuges, small autoclave etc. There is a training and orientation procedure that must be completed to obtain access to this lab space. A more detailed work description will be needed for a review and approval of work at the ALS Bio Lab. For more information and access, contact Julie Drotz.
