ECOTECH-COMPLEX – a propitious environment for cooperation between industry and science
Financed under the framework of the Operational Programme Innovative Economy, Measure 2.1 Development of research centres with high potential, in 2015 the ECOTECH-COMPLEX laboratory complex opened its facility located in Lublin, at 39 Głęboka street. The ECOTECH-COMPLEX centre offers access to state-of-the-art research equipment and laboratory space intended to facilitate cooperation between the scientific community and industry, by taking advantage of financing obtained for the purposes of enhancing business innovativeness.
The research conducted at ECOTECH-COMPLEX will focus on the following areas:
• agriculture,
• food,
• environmental protection,
• biomedicine.
The Centre's objective is to contribute to the implementation of the Regional Innovativeness Strategy by creating a network of inter- and intraregional connections between the R&D sector and industry.
"The Centre's building (…) comprises four research modules resting on a three-storey plinth. The plinth's interior houses a longitudinal hall with adjacent seminar rooms, quiet work areas, utility rooms, and a lecture hall. The two-storey hall connects with green patios facing the park which encloses the premises from the south. An underground car park is located in front of the building (the third common level)". The building is furnished with a centralised BMS (Building Management System) for the management, control and supervision of the respective installations, including an access control system and advanced audio-video and CCTV systems, emergency and safety lighting systems, as well as a centralised fire protection system. Given the above, the facility can easily qualify as a so-called smart building.
The facility houses a number of so-called "cleanrooms" which are isolated from the surrounding environment to allow comprehensive internal air purity, temperature and humidity control. This functionality is particularly important in the context of research conducted in the fields of biotechnology, genetics or pharmacy.
The ECOTECH-COMPLEX Centre takes advantage of a number of unique scientific and research equipment setups, including an ultra-high field magnetic resonance scanner (MRI 7T) for full body imaging of human subjects (gentry diameter - 60 cm). The scanner is also fitted with a device for hyperpolarisation of substances serving as metabolic markers. The hyperpolarisation technology is a brand new, still commercially unavailable method of medical imaging with a very high potential for future applications. It facilitates a considerable amplification of the magnetic resonance signal, which results in higher resolution of the images.
Furthermore, the Centre operates an analytical LC-NMR-MS system with greatly enhanced material analysis capacity. In addition to a standard magnetic resonance spectroscope (NMR), the setup includes a liquid chromatography device (LC) and a mass spectrometer (MS). This combination allows the system to perform structural analyses of even the most complex substances by isolating the respective components of a studied mixture and acquiring them in amounts necessary for effective spectral analysis.
Specialised systems have also been purchased to facilitate qualitative and quantitative analyses of various substances contained in pharmaceutical, cosmetic and agricultural-food products. The same include:
• a multidimensional chromatography system composed of fluid chromatography devices and mass spectrometers IT-TOF-TQ,
• an HPLC chromatography device with a universal light scattering detector and UV/VIS detector,
• a gas chromatography device coupled with a triple quadruple mass spectrometer (GC-MS/MS),
• a gas chromatography device with a FTIR detector,
• a GC-FID-ECD set,
• a UPLC/DAD set.
The Centre also utilises specialist equipment for the preparation of research samples:
• a pressure liquid extraction system (PLE),
• a supercritical fluid extraction system (SFE),
• an automatic SPE extractor,
• an automatic HS-SPME batcher with a liquid sample metering option.
The ECOTECH-COMPLEX Centre is prepared to conduct advanced food research aimed at identifying new plant compounds with a potential for application in the treatment and prevention of civilizational diseases. The first stage of such research involves pharmacogenomic analysis of material collected from patients suffering from respective civilizational diseases, e.g.: obesity, Alzheimer's disease, diabetes, or cancer. The purchased equipment facilitates advanced genetic analyses, for instance: microRNA sequencing, exome sequencing, de novo sequencing, resequencing, whole transcriptome sequencing, chromatin immunoprecipitation, small RNA analysis, cell proliferation analysis - cytometry, cytotoxicity analysis, cell adhesion and dispersion essays, receptor analysis, aptosis analysis.
The ECOTECH-COMPLEX Centre is currently fully operational, and although it will take some time for its full potential to be utilised, it already provides a unique opportunity of improving the general perception of south-eastern Poland, which is still commonly viewed as one of the least developed regions in the European Union.
