Office for Research Protections | Biosafety
March 4, 2024
The Office for Research Protections recently updated the oversight for research involving animal tissue to clarify that compliance review is under the oversight of the Institutional Biosafety Committee (IBC).
Research involving unfixed animal tissues must be submitted to the IBC for review via CATS Safety protocol submission system. This includes animal tissues obtained from field studies, or from external commercial or non-commercial sources (including USDA slaughterhouses). Animal tissues fixed through chemical fixation (e.g. formalin) or plastination processes do not require review.
Questions about review of animal tissue can be sent to the IBC: ORP-Biosafety@psu.edu.