Biocontainment

Esco launched the new Labculture Low Noise Class II Biological Safety Cabinet in March of 2008. The cabinet is the industry's lowest noise Class II cabinet, featuring noise levels as low as 53.5dBA (1.2m cabinet, tested according to EN12469). Typical Class II BSCs operate at 60dBA, with a reduction of 3dBA representing approximately a halving of perceived noise level. The Low Noise Labculture therefore has a perceived noise level 75% lower than standard Class II cabinets, allowing users to spend many hours working continuously.

The National Institutes of Health (NIH) announced additional steps in a comprehensive plan in March of 2008 to address public safety concerns regarding a national biocontainment research laboratory now under construction at Boston University Medical Center. Research in the laboratory, the construction of which is funded partly by the NIH, will focus on the development of diagnostics, treatments, and vaccines for a variety of infectious diseases.

Colorado State University initiated construction in early 2008 on a $42 million Diagnostic Medicine Center in Fort Collins. Sited south of the Veterinary Teaching Hospital, the 90,000-sf facility will be comprised of the Clinical Pathology Laboratory, the CSU Veterinary Diagnostic Laboratory, and the Animal Population Health Institute. Completion is slated for December 2009.

Western College of Veterinary Medicine (WCVM) is engaged in an expansion of its diagnostic laboratories in Saskatoon. The facility will house postmortem rooms and laboratories for animal disease diagnosis and will be constructed to national biosafety standards. The project began construction in fall of 2006 and is expected to reach completion in 2008. The existing diagnostic laboratory will be renovated once the expansion is complete. The project is part of a major WCVM construction initiative.

The University of Florida broke ground on the Pathogens Research Facility in Gainesville on February 27, 2008. Housing the Emerging Pathogens Institute, the $60 million facility is slated for completion in August of 2009. Accommodating research on select agents and viruses including SARS, West Nile, and avian influenza, the 108,000-sf building will house BSL-3 facilities, 28 laboratories, offices, three rooftop greenhouses, and support. In addition to the construction cost, the building will contain $15 million in equipment.

Lawrence Livermore National Laboratory’s BSL-3 laboratory became operational in late January of 2008. The $2.45-million facility supports select agent research in a one-story, permanent, self-contained 1,600-sf building with three individual laboratory rooms: an animal lab, a mechanical room, and shower/change rooms.

Kansas State University’s 113,000-sf Biosecurity Research Institute (BRI) in Manhattan, Kansas will provide training in biocontainment operations and maintenance in a March 2008 session. As part of the National Biosafety and Biocontainment Training Program, the session will support the Midwest Regional Center for Excellence, which is sponsored by the National Institutes of Health and the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

Emory Vaccine Center partnered with the International Center for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology (ICGEB) in January of 2008 to create the Joint ICGEB-Emory Vaccine Center in New Delhi, India. The center will accommodate vaccine research for diseases including HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis, hepatitis C, dengue fever, and malaria. Funding to support scientific staff will be provided by Emory University with ICGEB providing space and infrastructure.

The National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute opened the first Vietnamese BSL-3 laboratory meeting international standards in Hanoi in January of 2008. Construction began on the $8 million project in August of 2006 and reached completion in December of 2007. The facility was funded by the government of Japan and will accommodate research on diseases including avian influenza and SARS. The National Hygiene and Epidemiology Institute will work with the Japanese government to implement a $2 million project to train ten officials in the operation of the laboratory.

The United States Department of Homeland Security's Office of Procurement Operations will award approximately $24 million over several years to the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in Orient Point, N.Y. The project will improve research productivity and safety at the BSL-3 facility, which accommodates research on harmful zoological disease agents.

The Indian government has approved Rs.1 billion ($25.4 million) for the construction of a BSL-4 laboratory in Andhra Pradesh. The animal research facility will be sited on five acres three kilometers from the Centre for Cellular and Molecular Biology (CCMB) in Hyderabad, the organization that will operate the laboratory for the Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR).

After years of research, development and laboratory testing, SANYO has introduced the MCO-80IC Reach-In CO2 Incubator. It is both easy to use and designed specifically for critical applications in pharmaceutical, biotechnology and clinical investigation. Safe for even the most demanding of cell culture protocols, the SANYO MCO-80IC offers significant economic benefits by avoiding costly interruptions for decontamination, improving cell culture growth and expression under stable, repeatable conditions, and minimizing the potential for loss due to contamination.

Aurora, Colo.-based Merrick & Company received an engineering excellence award in December of 2007 from the American Council of Engineering Companies of Colorado. Merrick was recognized with a Building/Technology Systems Award for work on the BSL-3Ag Large Animal Health Facility project in Ames, Iowa. Merrick provided detailed architectural and engineering design services for one of the initial elements of the $460 million modernization of the USDA National Centers for Animal Health.

Needham, Ma.-based environmental engineering and consulting firm EH&E has authored a free white paper titled “Biosafety Review Key to Infection Control”. Aiming to help technicians and safety personnel to minimize risk of laboratory infection, the paper outlines strategies for compliance with NIH, CDC, OSHA, and BMBL guidelines.

Download the paper on EH&E website (registration required)

Colorado State University broke ground in December of 2007 on a $42 million veterinary science facility in Fort Collins. The 90,000-sf diagnostic medicine center will house specialty laboratories for zoonotic disease research. The facility is one of seven in the nation selected by the U.S. Department of Agriculture to test for bovine spongiform encephalopathy, or mad cow disease.