BHU V-C reconstitutes varsity’s biosafety panel

The biosafety committee is mandated to assist the institutions handling risk-inherent microorganisms or GE organisms, in preparing on-site emergency plans.

Banaras Hindu University vice-chancellor Prof Sudhir Kumar Jain has re-constituted the university’s Institutional Biosafety Committee.

The Banaras Hindu University in Varanasi (HT File Photo)

The committee chaired by Prof AK Tripathi, director, Institute of Science, BHU, will work on ensuring personal and environmental safety in the use of any kind of transgenic organisms during the course of research.

Dr. Bhupendra Narain Singh, senior principal scientist, CDRI, Lucknow, is the nominee in the committee, while Dr Richa Arya, department of zoology, Institute of Science, is the member secretary. The biosafety committee is mandated to assist the institutions handling risk-inherent microorganisms or GE organisms, in preparing on-site emergency plans.

Dr Vinod Tiwari, dept of pharmaceutical engineering, IIT-BHU, has been inducted as the outside expert and Prof Gopal Nath, dept of microbiology, Institute of Medical Sciences, has been named the Biosafety Officer.

The internal experts are Prof Pawan Kumar Singh, dept of genetics and plant breeding, Institute of Agricultural Sciences, Prof Rajesh Kumar Mall, Institute of Environment and Sustainable Development, Dr Samer Singh, Centre of Experimental Medicine & Surgery, Institute of Medical Sciences, and Dr. Akhilesh Kumar, Department of Botany, Institute of Science.