The Biological Safety Level 3 (BSL3) Laboratory (JS 1183) is a negative pressure biohazard containment facility that consists of a 90-square-foot anteroom and a 430-square-foot laboratory. The facility was totally renovated in 2011 to conform to standards in Biosafety in Microbiological and Biomedical Laboratories from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) for handling Risk Group 3 agents, large volume isolation of Risk Group 2 agents, as well as new and uncharacterized pathogens when found or genetically modified human pathogens as described in the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Office of Biotechnology Activities guidelines covering recombinant or synthetic nucleic acid molecules. The facility is recertified annually to meet current CDC and NIH requirements.

The facility is connected to Rush University Medical Center emergency power and is designed to maintain containment and security during emergency conditions. It would be invaluable as a support laboratory during Rush’s response to a bioterrorism event. The laboratory would also be useful for BSL2+ risk level experiments, such at the propagation of drug-resistant Mycobacterium tuberculosis.