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BIOSAFETY AND BIOSECURITY FOR GENERAL STUDIES ON LOGIC AND SCIENCE

 - LASU THE TRAIL BLAZER 

 Background

This twin subject is quite important and fast gaining prominence for their respective and collective importance for health, agricultural, environmental and economic relevance. The World Health Organization (WHO), for instance has for long recognized that safety, particularly biological safety is of global and international importance. The global health institution published the Laboratory Biosafety Manual in 1983 (WHO, 2004). In November 2015, Abuja played host to Professors and high ranking Faculty members from various Universities in Nigeria drawn from all the country’s six geopolitical zones for one week on a Foundation Biorisk Management Workshop. The workshop was organized by the Nigeria Biosafety Association (NiBSA) with funding and Technical support from Sandia Laboratories, United States of America. As part of the workshop, participants were trained on drawing curriculum on both biosafety and biosecurity (combined as Biorisk) and introducing them in the curricula of universities in Nigeria. The conference closed on a high note as participants drew a communiqué that spelt out the resolve and actions to be taken in their respective universities back home. Among the participants were a contingent from Lagos State University (LASU) comprised of Abiodun Denloye, Vice President of NiBSA and Co-facilitator and both Dr. A. O. BolaOyefolu who was then the Acting Head of Microbiology Department and Professor Kabiru Olusegun Akinyemi then Dean of Students’ Affairs as participants). The report to the University Senate received applause and thorough considerations which led to proposal that Bisoafety and Biosecurity should be incorporated into GNS 301 (Logic and Science). Following presentation by Professor Clement Fasan, Chairman of Senate Curriculum Committee and exhaustive deliberation by members, the proposal later received approval of the Senate under the Chairmanship of Professor Lanre Fagbohun. LASU thus became the first university in Nigeria, and indeed Africa to take students in a course that is compulsory for all undergraduates in Biosafety and Biosecurity. This is the first session (2016/2017) that this course is being taught with Biosafety and Biosecurity as a major component. It is expected that the biomedical sciences, Microbiology, Botany, Zoology, Agricultural Science and other relevant courses will make these components part of some of their courses also at the undergraduate and postgraduate levels.

What is Biosafety?

Biosafety as a term is derived from a coinage from Biological Safety that is Bio + Safety. The “Bio” aspect connote its meaning for life. Biology itself is the study of living things. It includes the study of the various aspects of life including physiology, behavior, growth, irritability, movement, reproduction and so on about the life of organisms. Safety is described as keeping away from harm, hazard or harmlessness. Biosafety literally therefore means the keeping life harmless or keeping hazards away from living organisms.

Due to its implication for public health, agriculture and environment, the definition ascribed to Biosafety may be different depending on who is giving the definition. One of the most prominent definitions however is from the Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) of the United States of America (USA) which defines Biosafety as “the discipline addressing the safe handling and containment of infectious microorganisms and hazardous biological materials” (CDC 2010). This definition is from the background of health which may be public health, environmental health or from a veterinary angle. It would include different aspect of Zoonoses, the transmission of diseases borne by animals to humans including Rabies (bats and dogs), Ebola Virus Disease (bats and humans), Lassa Fever (from rats), Cryptosporidiosis (from cats) and so on. The common diseases such as Malaria fever, Dengue fever, Common cold also called Flu and Zika are also inclusive and there are many more. These diseases are vectored by pets, wild animals, insects and other such vehicles of transmission. Exposure to these animals and interactions with neighbours/colleagues already carrying the pathogens or the disease predispose humans to them. Your interaction with these sources of transmission goes a long way to ensuring the biosafety of the organisms. This interaction is what is referred to in the definition above as the “safe handling” in the definition above. This handling is carried out in teaching laboratories, research, and clinical diagnosis. The pathogens are the disease-causing agents or simply referred to as agents and they are the “infectious microorganisms” referred to in the definition. These organisms may be protozoans, bacteria, viruses or fungi etc.  The “hazardous biological materials” mentioned include infected body parts of animals, waste products from infected animals/humans or pathogen reservoirs, animal carcasses etc. The beginning of that definition refers to Biosafety as a “discipline”, showing that it is a standard practice or procedure or field of study or a combination of all. Really, biosafety is an emerging scientific discipline and field of study. Due to the clinical, diagnostic, research and general laboratory handling of pathogenic organisms a specialized field of laboratory biosafety is also evolving. Laboratory Biosafety is defined by the Global Biorisk Management Curriculum Library (www.biosecurity.sandia.gov/gbrmc) as “Containment principles, technologies, and practices implemented to prevent unintentional exposure to pathogens and toxins or their unintentional release”.

From a Broad environmental perspective, Biosafety is defined as “a concept that refers to the need to  protect human health and the environment from the possible adverse effects of the products of modern biotechnology” (Convention on Biological Diversity – CBD, 1992). The CBD is part of the agreement reached at the United Nations Conference on Environment and Development (UNCED) also called Earth Summit held in Rio De Janiero, Brazil in 1992. This definition emphasizes the protection of human health and the environment from the effects of the products of modern biotechnology especially involving recombinant DNA technology. This technology includes alterations made to genes, the determinants of hereditary characters in plants, animals and microorganisms. An expansion of this definition is given in the Cartagena Protocol (CP) to the CBD. From the CP it could be inferred through Article 2 that Biosafety refers to provision of adequate level of protection in the field of the safe transfer, handling and use of living modified organisms (LMOs) resulting from modern biotechnology that may have adverse effects on the conservation and sustainable use of biological diversity, taking into account the risks to human health, and especially focusing on transboundary movements. Defining some terminologies is quite important here:

1. A LMO is any living organism having a novel combination of genetic material obtained through the use of modern biotechnology.

2. A Living organism is any biological entity that can transfer or replicate genetic material. These includes sterile organisms, viruses and viroids;

3. Modern biotechnology means the application of the following:

a. In vitro nucleic acid techniques, including recombinant deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) and direct injection of nucleic acid into cells or organelles, or

b. Fusion of cells beyond the taxonomic family, that overcome natural physiological reproductive or recombination barriers and that are not techniques used in traditional breeding and selection.

From the foregoing the paramount thing about Biosafety is that it is concerned with the health of humans, animals and the sustainable use of biological resources of the environment. Thus Biosafety is about keeping humans, animals and other organisms free from harm and bequeathing a safe future for coming generations. 

My presentations on this subject can be found here www.slideshare.net/abiodundenloye
To be updated soon.