Biosafety Guidelines For Research On Genetically Modified ...

APPENDIX 18: PROCEDURES FOR EXPERIMENTS INVOLVING FISH AND OTHER
AQUATIC ORGANISMS
Genetic manipulation work involving the use of fish and other aquatic organisms
includes:
• production or use of transgenic aquatic organisms;
• use of genetically modified microorganisms to infect aquatic organisms.
The primary objective in designing containment facilities and procedures for
genetic manipulation work involving aquatic organisms is to prevent escape of
transgenic aquatic organisms or recombinant infectious agents into natural
waterways.
Proposals for such work will be examined by IBC on a case-by-case basis. Investigators
submitting proposals for research involving transgenic aquatic organisms shall describe
in the proposal the containment facilities to be used and procedures proposed for
treatment of waste water from the facility.
Adherence to the biosafety guidelines does not exempt researchers from practising
responsible laboratory animal care and maintain basic welfare standards (useful
references: Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals, National Research
Council, 1996 and Guide to the Care and Use of Experimental Animals, Canadian
Council on Animal Care). Researchers should also be aware that they are subject to
Singapore laws that legislate against cruelty to animals. This is contained in Part IV of
the Animals and Birds Act (Cap. 7).
The following general guidelines are provided regarding the basic requirements for
genetic manipulation work involving aquatic organisms.
General
• The rearing area shall be confined in a secured building and be restricted to
authorized personnel only.
• All water shall leave the plant through a common drain.
• All effluent water shall be passed through at least two screens. The size of the
screening shall be set to retain the smallest life history stage of the organisms in
use. The screens shall be cleared regularly to prevent blockage and overflow.
• Effluent water shall not discharge into a major system containing related fish
species.
• The building shall be structurally sound and of sufficient elevation to preclude
flooding or unintentional escape of these transgenic organisms.
Work with transgenic aquatic organisms
• To prevent escape of adult aquatic organisms into the sewerage system, a grill or
mesh, with an appropriate grid size to prevent passage of adults of the species
being used, shall be fitted to outlets used for disposal of tank water.
• Water from tanks containing only adult transgenic aquatic organisms, and not
involving use of recombinant infectious agents, may be discarded untreated down
the sink, provided that a filtering mechanism to retain adult aquatic organisms is in
place.
• Tank water that has any potential to contain embryos, sperm, eggs or larvae of
transgenic aquatic organisms shall be treated to ensure inactivation of viable
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