What is Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) lab?

• Union Home Minister Amit Shah laid the foundation stone of the BSL-4 Biocontainment Facility of the Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre in Gandhinagar on January 13.

• The lab is being built at a cost of Rs 362 crore in over 11,000 square meters of area.

• Shah said this is the second Biosafety Level-4 (BSL-4) laboratory in the country, but the first one being built by a state government.

• The country so far had only one BSL-4 laboratory at the National Institute of Virology (NIV) in Pune, forcing samples to be transported hundreds of kilometres for testing.

Four Biosafety Levels

• Laboratory biosafety and biosecurity activities are fundamental to protecting the laboratory workforce and the wider community against unintentional exposures or releases of pathogenic biological agents. 

• These activities are implemented using a risk assessment framework and through the development of a safety culture which is needed to ensure a safe workplace where adequate measures are applied to minimise the likelihood and severity of any potential exposure to biological agents. 

• Laboratory biosafety is the term used to describe the containment principles, technologies and practices that are implemented to prevent unintentional exposure to pathogens and toxins, or their accidental release.

• There are four Biosafety Levels (BSLs) based on combinations of laboratory practices and techniques, safety equipment, and laboratory facilities. 

• Each combination is specifically appropriate for the type of procedures performed and documented or suspected routes of transmission of infectious agents. 

i) BSL-1 - Basic teaching laboratories

ii) BSL-2 - Diagnostic services and research laboratories

iii) BSL-3 - High containment special diagnostic services laboratories 

iv) BSL-4 - Maximum containment laboratories to handle dangerous pathogens.

• BSL-4 is the highest level of biosafety containment required for handling highly contagious and fatal viruses.