Both available in Portuguese and English
The web page for Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research with the potential to benefit various areas such as health, science and technology, defense, and the environment, is now online.
At https://cnpem.br/en/orion/ you can find more details about the project, which will include the first maximum biological containment facilities (BSL-4) in Latin America, and the first in the world connected to a particle accelerator, Sirius. Orion will also contain BSL-2 and BSL-3 spaces, laboratories for basic research, analytic techniques, and advanced competencies for biological imaging, such as various microscopy modes.
Alongside the new page on the CNPEM website, the first printed material about this project is now available for download. This booklet is directed at various segments of the public to present an overview of Orion and illustrate the main scientific competencies and applications of the project. The booklet can be read and downloaded here.
The Orion booklet and web page contain all the details about this project, which will be an instrument to support national sovereignty in facing health crises. Both are offered in Portuguese and English.
The implementation of Project Orion is overseen by the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM), a social organization linked to the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI). The project is part of the federal government’s New Growth Acceleration Program (PAC) and funded with resources from the National Scientific and Technological Development Fund (FNDCT) and MCTI, with support from the Ministry of Health (MS).
This initiative is part of the federal government’s New Industry Brazil (NIB) stimulus policy and will serve as an instrument of national sovereignty, competence, and security in the fields of science and technology for research, defense, and human, animal, and environmental health. Orion was also planned to strengthen the Health Economic-Industrial Complex (CEIS), an initiative coordinated by the Ministry of Health and intended to meet priority demands from the Brazilian Unified Health System (SUS).
About CNPEM
A sophisticated and effervescent environment for research and development, unique in Brazil and present in few scientific centers in the world, the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) is a private non-profit organization, under the supervision of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation (MCTI). The Center operates four National Laboratories and is the birthplace of the most complex project in Brazilian science – Sirius – one of the most advanced synchrotron light sources in the world. CNPEM brings together highly specialized multi-thematic teams, globally competitive laboratory infrastructures open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects in partnership with the productive sector and training of researchers and students. The Center is an environment driven by the search for solutions with impact in the areas of Health, Energy and Renewable Materials, Agro-environment, and Quantum Technologies. As of 2022, with the support of the Ministry of Education (MEC), CNPEM expanded its activities with the opening of the Ilum School of Science. The interdisciplinary higher course in Science, Technology and Innovation adopts innovative proposals with the aim of offering excellent, free, full-time training with immersion in the CNPEM research environment. Through the CNPEM 360 Platform, it is possible to explore, in a virtual and immersive way, the main environments and activities of the Center, visit: https://pages.cnpem.br/cnpem360/.
Project Orion
Project Orion will be a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research which will involve Latin America’s first high and maximum biological containment level facilities (BSL-4), and the only lab of this kind in the world connected to a particle accelerator, Sirius. Currently under construction in the city of Campinas, São Paulo on the CNPEM campus, this project will combine analytic techniques and advanced competencies in bioimaging which will be open to the scientific community and public agencies. By permitting advances in knowledge on pathogens and related diseases, Orion will support health surveillance activities and policies, as well as the development of diagnostic methods, vaccines, treatments, and epidemiological strategies. Orion will support national sovereignty in facing health crises, and has the potential to benefit various areas such as health, science and technology, defense, and the environment.
