Pasteur exploring possible partnerships involving the Sirius infrastructure to study the structure of potential new therapeutic or vaccine candidates
Legend: Delegation from the Institut Pasteur of São Paulo visited the facilities at the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (Photo credit: Outreach/CNPEM)
On December 12, representatives from the Institut Pasteur of São Paulo (IPSP) visited the Brazilian Center for Research in Energy and Materials (CNPEM) to see Sirius in person and learn more about Project Orion, the laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research which involves constructing various biosafety containment level labs, including a maximum-level containment (BSL-4) facility, the first of its kind in Latin America and the first in the world connected to a synchrotron light source, Sirius.
The Institut Pasteur of São Paulo is a French/Brazilian nonprofit association for world-class biomedical research on transmissible and non-transmissible, emerging, reemerging, neglected and progressive diseases, including those that involve nervous system development or degeneration. The institute’s goal is to develop preventive measures, diagnostics, prognostics and therapies for these diseases.
Representatives including Executive Director Paola Minoprio were present, along with Professor Edison Luiz Durigon of the University of São Paulo Institute of Biomedical Sciences (ICB-USP), who is also the President of the IPSP Internal Biosafety Commission (Cibio) and coordinator of the Clinical and Molecular Biology Team, which is dedicated to clinical and molecular diagnosis, human and animal viruses, respiratory viruses, wild viruses, and emerging viruses that include Zika and influenza.
“The partnership between Pasteur and Sirius can open doors toward new discoveries in pathogen research. With the ability to observe the mechanisms of infection at a structural level, we will be able to advance research already conducted by the Institut Pasteur of São Paulo. I foresee a lasting collaboration with benefits for domestic and global health,” stated Minoprio.
As a coordinator of the IPSP Clinical and Molecular Virology research group, Durigon noted the possibilities for using the current Sirius and future Orion infrastructure to extend the institute’s scientific studies. “For example, to be able to view direct interaction between a neuron and a virus within a biosecure environment would be something extraordinary. This possibility opens up a universe of opportunities and undoubtedly paves the way for many future collaborations, including to develop vaccines for diseases that are already being studied at Pasteur under biosecurity conditions that are very advanced for the country,” he added.
IPSP
The Institut Pasteur of São Paulo (Brazil) is part of the Pasteur Network, which comprises over 30 research institutes in 25 countries. Located within the University of São Paulo’s Cidade Universitária urban campus, it contains level 1-3 biosafety containment (BSL) laboratories that are the most advanced in Brazil, modeled on those at the Institut Pasteur in Paris.
In Brazil, the institute spearheads seven research groups: Integrative Biology; Eco-Epidemiology, Diversity and Evolution of Emerging Viruses; Emergency Groups; Modeling Nervous System Diseases; Trypanosomatid Infectious Processes; Vaccinology; Genomic Surveillance and Vaccine Innovation; and Clinical and Molecular Virology.
More information about Institut Pasteur of São Paulo can be found at the institute’s website, https://www.pasteur-sp.org.br/
Project Orion
Project Orion will be a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research and will include Latin America’s first maximum biological containment level facilities (BSL-4), the only laboratory of its kind in the world connected to a synchrotron light source, 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.
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). The New PAC also involves carrying out the second phase of Project Sirius with an investment of approximately R$ 800 million, which will include constructing ten new research stations and optimization of the facilities.
The Orion 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
CNPEM is home to a state-of-the-art, multi-user and multidisciplinary scientific environment with activities within different fronts of the Brazilian National System for Science, Technology and Innovation. A social organization overseen by the MCTI, CNPEM is driven by research that impacts the areas of health, energy, renewable materials, and sustainability. It is responsible for Sirius, the largest assembly of scientific equipment constructed in the country, and is currently developing Project Orion, a laboratory complex for advanced pathogen research. Highly specialized science and engineering teams, sophisticated infrastructure open to the scientific community, strategic lines of investigation, innovative projects involving the productive sector, and training for researchers and students are the pillars of this institution that is unique in Brazil and able to serve as a bridge between knowledge and innovation.
