Biosafety laboratories
The IDRC is working to better understand various pathogens and therefore features several specialized biosafety level (BSL) 2 and 3 rooms. We operate eight BSL-2 rooms totaling 220 square meters. Each of these rooms contains biosafety hoods, incubators, microscopes and all the equipment necessary for the growth of infectious agents and their characterization. These rooms are specialized for virology, for cell culture, for parasitology, for mycology, and for bacteriology including multi-resistant bacteria in addition to a seperate room for anaerobic organisms. The IDRC also has two BSL-3 laboratories. The first one of 120 square meters which allows work on pathogens transmitted by biological fluids (e.g. HIV-AIDS, hepatitis C), and a second one of 64 square meters for pathogens transmitted by aerosols (e.g. SARS-CoV2, avian influenza) as well as an adjoining animal room.
BSL-3 for HIV handling
IDRC members have access to a BSL-3 laboratory of over 120 square meters. This space, under the supervision of Dr. Michel J. Tremblay and Dr. Jérôme Estaquier, allows for the safe handling of blood- and body fluid-borne pathogens such as HIV/SIV, Hepatitis C and Human T-Lymphotropic Virus (HTLV).
The BSL-3 laboratory has seven laminar flow biological hoods, four CO2 incubators, an epifluorescence microscope with live cell acquisition capabilities, a BD FACSCelesta flow cytometer and its plate changer, a BD Influx sorter (6 sorting lanes), automated cell separators Robosep from Stemcell Technologies and AutoMACS from Miltenyi Biotec, three high capacity tabletop centrifuges, an Optimal L-90K ultracentrifuge, two Biotek ELX405 96-well plate washers, one Biotek ELX808 plate spectrophotometer, one Thermo Varioskan Flash multimode reader, one Amaxa Nucleofector transfection device, one Bio-Rad electroporator, and all the small equipment necessary for the realization of cellular and molecular biology experiments (microscopes, microcentrifuges, Milli-Q water dispenser, ice dispenser, -80°C freezers, etc.)
In addition, a CFI grant in infectious diseases will allow the acquisition of new technologies such as single cell RNA.
BSL-3 for airborne viruses
The IDRC is equipped with a BSL-3 laboratory for respiratory viruses with a surface area of over 64 m2. It is under the direction of Dr. Guy Boivin, co-direction of Dr. Mariana Baz and under the coordination of Liva Checkmahomed (supervisor for the management of the laboratory). This laboratory is comprised of an in-vitro section and an animal facility. It allows the safe handling of the respiratory pathogen SARS-CoV-2 associated with COVID-19 as well as other respiratory pathogens. Rigorous practical and theoretical training is mandatory to have access to the laboratory.
This BSL-3 laboratory contains all the instruments necessary to perform cellular and animal experiments. It is equipped with three biological hoods for both sections, two CO2 incubators, one inverted microscope, one EVOS FL fluorescence microscope, one HTX Reader, one Beckman Optima MAX-XP tabletop ultracentrifuge, two tissue homogenization systems, one anesthesia system, one small rodent housing system, two freezers (at -80°C and -30°C) and one refrigerator. In addition, molecular biology equipment is also present (electrophoresis, thermocyclers, microcentrifuge, ChemiDoc imaging system, etc).
