Published: 21.09.2020
The University of Pardubice will again help in the critical situation caused by the second wave of the pandemic in the region. Starting next week, a specially secured laboratory will start the analysis of samples for SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. The experts from the Faculty of Chemical Technology were involved in testing in April this year, now they will help the Pardubice Region Hospitals.
“The current epidemiological situation is very serious and testing is an important part of prevention for all risk groups. Our university is a socially responsible institution and offers its experts and high-quality facilities in these difficult times,” said the Rector of the University of Pardubice, Prof. Jiří Málek.
The analysis of the samples will be performed by the same team as in the spring. Six women from the Faculty of Chemical Technology were testing from April for the Pardubice Region Hospitals and Vysoké Mýto Hospital. The cooperation now continues. The testing will include both academics and doctoral students specialized in molecular biology from the Department of Biological and Biochemical Sciences under the leadership of Mgr. Barbora Jankovičová, Ph.D.
“Our faculty has state-of-the-art facilities including a special laboratory with a biological loop which allows safe handling of the virus. We want to help because every help counts. Our staff will work in two shifts just as in the spring,” says the Dean of the Faculty of Chemical Technology Prof. Petr Kalenda.
For these purposes, the Faculty of Chemical Technology has laboratories with BLS3 biological safety level. It is basically a building inside another building. Inlet and outlet air flows through HEPA filters, laboratory water travels through a collection and decontamination tank where 24-hour decontamination takes place and then to a neutralizing station. All biological material is introduced through a sluice room and after analysis is discarded in an autoclave.
The Faculty’s equipment, which is primarily designed for education and research, enables the analysis of 50 samples a day. The isolation of the virus nucleic acid is performed manually using a special column. This method is more time consuming. Without the BLS3 laboratories the testing would not be possible in the premises of the university.
The Faculty of Chemical Technology is the oldest institute of the University of Pardubice. This year, we are celebrating the 70th anniversary of the establishment of the Faculty as the cornerstone of the current university.
Mgr. Martina Macková,
Head of PR Department, University of Pardubice
