Saving Lives with BSL-4 Labs

Starting a new era of India's health security, a biosafety level 4 (BSL-4) lab is being built at the cost of Rs 362 crore at Gujarat Biotechnology Research Centre in Gandhinagar. Although this will be India's second high-level lab after the National Institute of Virology in Pune (established in 2012), this is the first lab being built by a state government, with an area of 11,000 square metres. Back in 2024, the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) took a significant step in enhancing India's chemical-biological defence capabilities with the inauguration of a BSL-4 laboratory at the Defence Research and Development Establishment (DRDE) in Gwalior.

- Dr Manbeena Chawla

India has been lagging behind for many years due to the cutting-edge research being done in the world, but the establishment of such BSL-4 bio-containment facilities in the country can provide new opportunities to the youth working in the biotechnology sector and help India emerge as a global leader in years to come.

According to reports, with 3,000 square metres of lab space, the Wuhan Institute of Virology in China is one the largest BSL-4 lab in the world, later overtaken by the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility at Kansas State University in the US which boasts over 50,000 square metres of lab space including BSL-3 and BSL-4 facilities.

The global distribution of BSL-4 laboratories has evolved significantly over the past few decades, reflecting the growing recognition of the need for high-containment facilities in various regions. While historically concentrated in North America and Europe, there has been a notable increase in BSL-4 labs across Asia, Africa, and Australia in recent years.