BIO SAFETY LEVELS

BIO SAFETY LEVELS

Subject: Science & tech

Context: Haffkine to sign MoU with Bharat Biotech for sharing technology. On April 28, the Maharashtra government had approved Rs 94 crore for the construction and setting up of a bio safety level 3 facility in Haffkine’sParel premises.

Concept:

Different Biosafety Levels

• Biosafety Level 1: It is applied to the laboratories where the work is carried out with very low-risk microbes that do not cause any infection in the adults. One such non-infectious strain is E.coli.
• Biosafety Level 2: It is applied to the laboratories where work is carried out with moderately pathogenic organisms. Agents worked in biosafety level 2 include HIV, encephalitis virus.
• Biosafety Level 3: The pathogens that can cause serious health hazards are worked under biosafety level 3.
• Biosafety Level 4: The biosafety level 4 laboratory works with the microbes Ebola and Marburg virus that are usually fatal and have no treatment or vaccines.