IMB Update

The IMB has hosted a seminar to update the stakeholders on the IMB experiences in the implementation of the tasks required and systems put in place to facilitate compliance to existing legislation. A powerpoint presentation has been put together with a summary of this update.
Should anybody require a copy of the presentation of the seminar series please request it to the speaker.

PROJECT DEVIATIONS

What do we do if things are not going according to plan in our project?
The IMB expects that if the detected deviation has a negative impact in the welfare of the animal, the deviation is logged in the project deviation record, which will be available for IMB inspection, and that it is reported to the animal welfare body for their discussion. Then the applicant should submit an amendment to the ethics committee and to the IMB. Any recommendation for change by the animal welfare body should be included in the project amendment application.

IMB NEWS

Last Wednesday, the IMB have provided an update on the status of the S.I. No 543 implementation.

They have issued approximately 50 individual authorizations to date, but not that many project authorizations. Regarding the publication of the non-technical project summary of these project authorizations, the IMB are now considering the sensitivities and a safe way to make them public (see updates on their website).

PERSONAL SAFETY VS PUBLICATION NTPS

The NTPS is the Non-Technical Project Summary that every project manager should submit to the IMB as part of their project authorization application. 

The format and structure of the NTPS is established by the European Commission, and it is a requirement that it is written in language that is easily understood. In addition, the legislation requires that the NTPS should not contain proprietary or confidential information which might identify either the establishment where the study is conducted or the personnel involved. There are several measures that the IMB takes in collaboration with the project manager to ensure the applicant's anonymity and personal safety. 

IMB June Update

 The IMB has sent an update alerting stakeholders of the new up-to-date application forms for project, authorization, individual authorization, pject authorization amendment and out of scope. The IMB also encourages users to submit application via the secure portal CESP.

ILASA (Irish Laboratory Animal Science Association) met the IMB

ILASA has met the IMB to raise some issues that came to the association's attention. These are some that you might find interesting and useful:

FERTILIZED EGGS

Fertilized oocytes: www.xenopus.com

If any of you is interested on zebrafish or xenopus laevis fertilized eggs, these are available at regular intervals over the year. Every week or two the frog unit performs in-vitro fertilization of Xenopus laevis eggs to obtain embryos. The male donors are killed to obtain their testis, which means that other organs are available to other users. If you have a scientific/educational use for these tissues, you can contact us at awbnuig@gmail.com and we will put you in contact with the relevant researcher.

Please note that you could not let unmodified eggs to hatch, unless your unit has a breeding authorization. Equally you could not use modified/altered fertilized eggs beyond their independent feeding larval stages unless it is done under a project authorization.