2021 Membership Registration Open

The membership Registration for 2021 remains at the low cost of $40. If you are a member, renewal must be done by January 31, 2021 to avoid losing your privileges as a member, such as access to the member only webpages, discount for the BioNet annual meeting and free lunch at the quarterly BioNet meetings. If you are not a member, this is the best time to join and enjoy the member benefits!

To renew your membership, either log in to the BioNet website as a member and
1. Click on the "Members" page button on the top menu bar,
2. Click on "BioNet Membership Renewal"

Or if you were not a BioNet member in 2020 and do not have access to the member page, click here to access the renewal page.

3. Enter your information: Name and method of payment
4. Click on sent. A message “Your message was sent successfully. Thanks” will appear on your screen.
5. Continue with your method of payment. If paying with Credit Card, click on the appropriate membership button, if paying by check, please send it at the address listed at the bottom of the webpage. 

BioNet Election – Call for Nominations Notice

BioNet will be holding elections later this year to choose new board members.  A call for nominations will be sent out following the September 25 meeting.  Open positions are:

      • President Elect
      • Board Secretary
      • Board Member at Large.

We hope to increase our diversity by having people join the board who have not previously been involved with the BioNet administration.  We are also hoping to recruit candidates from outside of San Diego, if possible.  Please note the nominee must be a BioNet member but not necessarily a member of ABSA .

National Inventory for Poliovirus Containment Survey

With the assistance of the NIH Office of Science Policy, the U.S. National Authority for Containment of Poliovirus (U.S. NAC) has contacted all registered Institutional Biosafety Committee Chairs and/or Co-Chairs to request their assistance in sharing information about the recently launched National Inventory for Poliovirus Containment (NIPC). The Chairs/Co-Chairs were asked to forward information about the national inventory online survey to principal investigators. This survey is being conducted to 1) identify facilities in the United States that possess any materials that could potentially contain poliovirus and 2) collect laboratory inventory data of materials potentially containing poliovirus.

Poliovirus containment is a key objective of World Health Organization (WHO)’s Global Polio Eradication Initiative and Global Action Plan (GAPIII). Per GAPIII, each country is required to complete a national inventory of poliovirus-containing materials. The NIPC was launched because of guidance issued by WHO on the handling of poliovirus potentially infectious materials (PIM), material collected in a time and place where wild poliovirus (WPV) circulated or oral poliovirus vaccine (OPV) was in use.

Investigators are being asked to complete the survey if their laboratory tests, extracts, handles, or stores biological samples from humans, experimentally infected animals, sewage, or environmental waters. The survey questions are intended to identify laboratories that possess any materials that could potentially contain poliovirus, and it is important to note that potentially infectious materials are identified on the basis of where and when the samples were collected, not on the basis of any test results. Additional information about the survey can be found on the U.S. NAC’s website at https://www.cdc.gov/cpr/polioviruscontainment/NIPC.htm.

NIH Guidelines Revision

the NIH posted the finalized proposal to amend the NIH Guidelines for Research Involving Recombinant or Synthetic Nucleic Acid Molecules (NIH Guidelines) to streamline the oversight of gene therapy research. This proposal, which was developed in conjunction with the Food and Drug Administration, included amending the NIH Guidelines to eliminate duplicative review and reporting requirements for human gene transfer protocols and refocuses the role of the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee (RAC) as a transparent forum for science, safety, and ethics of emerging biotechnologies. The RAC has been renamed the Novel and Exceptional Technology and Research Advisory Committee (NExTRAC).

The roles and responsibilities of IBCs to review gene therapy protocols have been modified so that they are consistent with the review of other research covered under the NIH Guidelines. Gene therapy protocols remain subject to Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and other clinical trial regulations, and only after FDA, IBC, IRB, and other relevant approvals are in place can these protocols proceed.

2019 BioNet Symposium – Feedback

The annual BioNet Symposium was successfully held on April 19, 2019 at San Diego State University. This year's program covered Zika virus effects in brains, Project Management strategies, ABSA current role and effort to promote biosafety worldwide, biosecurity and biosafety risks associated with synthetic biology, biosafety considerations when administrating viral vector or human pathogens in rodent, challenges when handling coxsackie B virus, and tips on how to approach investigators initiating new projects.

The Committee would like to thank BioRaft for sponsoring the symposium and the exhibitors (Applied Instruments, Berlin Packaging, Corporate Environmental Advisors, and Technical Safety Services Inc.) for their support.

Attendees also enjoyed a day of networking, and raffle prizes and afterwards gathering at a nearby brewery. We hope to see you all at the next BioNet event!