Mouse Research and the NIH Guidelines

Some research using mice is exempt from IBC review under the NIH Guidelines (NIH Guidelines III-F-8, Appendix C-VII, Appendix C-VIII). Purchase or transfer of transgenic rodents for experiments that require BL1 containment is exempt, as is generation of BL1 transgenic rodents via breeding, as long as:

1. Both parental rodents can be housed under BL1 containment; and
2. neither parental transgenic rodent contains the following genetic modifications: (i) incorporation of more than one-half of the genome of an exogenous eukaryotic virus from a single family of viruses; or (ii) incorporation of a transgene that is under the control of a gammaretroviral long terminal repeat (LTR); and
3. the transgenic rodent that results from this breeding is not expected to contain more than one-half of an exogenous viral genome from a single family of viruses.

Experiments involving injection of live virus into mice are NOT exempt and require IBC review (NIH Guidelines III-D for most viruses, III-E for RG1 viruses such as AAV).

Experiments involving xenografts or allografts with transduced cells are NOT exempt and require IBC review (NIH Guidelines III-D for most viruses, III-E for RG1 viruses such as AAV).

Most experiments involving xenografts or allografts with unmodified cells or cells transfected with replication-incompetent nucleic acids (e.g., miRNAs, siRNAs) are exempt (NIH Guidelines I-B, III-F); however, the CSU IBC requires that investigators proposing xenograft/allograft experiments using such cell lines should still notify the IBC by submitting an application including the project title and the minimum amount of information needed to confirm that the cell lines are not recombinant. Contact the IBC chair for more information.