One of the differentials of the CNPEM as a science and technology institution is its capacity to develop and operate large-scale research infrastructure that offers complex and unique techniques to carry out a wide range of scientific experiments. Today, the Center is involved in structural projects that include designing sophisticated research facilities as well as initiatives for scientific outreach and dissemination and to firmly establish the Ilum School of Science.
Projects for the future
Sirius
Sirius, Brazil’s new synchrotron light source, is the largest and most complex scientific infrastructure constructed in Brazil. This large-scale set of equipment utilizes particle accelerators to produce a special type of light that is used to investigate the composition and structure of all types of matter.
Sirius was designed to produce the brightest synchrotron light out of all the devices in its energy range, and the scientific research conducted with the help of this light has applications in various knowledge areas. Sirius is an open facility that is available to the Brazilian and international scientific communities, allowing hundreds of academic and industrial studies to be conducted each year.
Through these studies, Sirius helps find solutions to major scientific and technological challenges such as developing vaccines, medications, and treatments for diseases, new fertilizers, plant species that are more resistant and adaptable, new agricultural techniques, and renewable energy sources, among many other potential applications with economic and social impacts. Throughout its development, Sirius has proved to be a defining project for Brazil.
Not only does it position the country on the cutting edge of global science, but it has also positively impacted innovation in domestic industry, which was involved in constructing a substantial portion of its sophisticated components. Six light lines are currently in the process of commissioning, in which CNPEM staff and outside researchers conduct experiments to test all the functionalities and performance of the equipment, as well as the four support labs. Another eight light lines are in the development and assembly stage, and will soon be available to the scientific and industrial community.
Industrial Biotechnology Platform
The Industrial Biotechnology Platform will encompass integrated R&D infrastructure rooted in the instrumentation and the unique competencies at the CNPEM in order to expand the capacity of industrial biotechnology in Brazil, and will be accessible to the academic and industrial communities. This platform will promote the discovery, design, and engineering of enzymes and microorganisms and the development of processes at technology readiness levels 3 to 5, supported by technical, economic, and environmental assessments of the sustainability of the biotechnologies developed in the CNPEM’s programs.
The objective of this platform is to support the competitive domestic development of microorganisms and enzymes, essential inputs for transforming biomass and producing biotechnological products for application in industrial processes; this process takes advantage of the potential offered by Brazil’s microbial biodiversity, one of the richest in the world. The platform also is intended to reduce the technological risk involved in biotechnologies developed in Brazil, and to create a bridge between scientific advances and demands for innovation among companies in various sectors, such as biofuels and food and beverages.
The platform has two crucial elements for implantation: a high-throughput infrastructure for developing industrially relevant enzymes and microorganisms, and an infrastructure to scale up processes.
Center for Health Technologies (CTS)
The Center for Health Technologies is an initiative intended to meet demands from the R&D&I chain in health, acting as a means to carry out highly complex tasks required to validate and transform fundamental scientific knowledge into technologies and solutions to challenges facing the Brazilian healthcare system.
This initiative seeks to establish new competencies dedicated to clinical biomanufacturing of pilot batches of cell lines that produce monoclonal antibodies, vaccines, and materials used to produce therapies based on gene editing, three such demands from the Brazilian health system. The Center for Health Technologies will also incorporate the complementary competencies of the CNPEM into its processes of discovering and developing pharmaceuticals, tissue engineering, pre-clinical development, bioimaging, and computational biology.
The expansion of this platform will include installing and commissioning equipment for in vivo bioimaging, expanding the laboratory to produce genetically modified animals, and creating and maintaining wild and genetically modified murine lines.
Platform to Combat Emerging Viral Diseases (PCVE)
The fight against emerging human viral diseases (such as Covid-19) that will continue to threaten public health requires the permanent incorporation of multidisciplinary scientific competencies. In response to these challenges, the CNPEM’s Platform to Combat Emerging Viral Diseases (PCVE) involves establishing a set of technologically pioneering scientific platforms to promote and support a strategic research agenda dedicated to the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of emerging human pathogenic viruses. This initiative receives funding from the Brazilian federal government’s program to support activities to face the international public health emergency resulting from the coronavirus.
The PCVE’s activities include establishing a biosafety level 3 laboratory and research related to synthetic biology and genetic engineering, molecular and structural virology, molecular immunology and antibody engineering, nanobiology and diagnostic devices, molecular pharmacology and pharmaceutical development, biological computation, and artificial intelligence. Work to implement the infrastructure for the platform is currently underway; equipment has been procured and commissioned, and basic and executive plans are being drawn up to adapt the CNPEM buildings to install the biosafety level 3 laboratory.
Visitor Center
The remarkable growth and expansion of CNPEM and its research activities have led to a significant increase in public interest in the Center’s activities. As part of this, CNPEM is developing a project for a future Visitor Center, whose main goal is to create an immersive and educational environment that will stimulate society’s curiosity and interest in knowledge and science. This space is designed to strengthen ties between the scientific community and society, inspire civil interest in science among all ages, and promote greater appreciation of the research carried out at CNPEM and in Brazil. In addition to the scientific agenda, this project should also promote cultural and artistic activities, as well as the exchange of actions of this nature with other institutions.
For the conceptual phase, the project relied on an international consultancy that analyzed the best references and practices of cultural and scientific institutions in Brazil and abroad, aiming to incorporate them into this initiative. Currently, the basic architectural project is being developed with a Brazilian firm to design the physical structure and external living spaces to provide visitors with a memorable experience.
The Visitor Center initiative is based on a participative model involving different audiences and should include innovative exhibition spaces, laboratories equipped for practical activities aimed at school groups, as well as an auditorium for events and spaces for training teachers and students. This project reaffirms CNPEM’s commitment to scientific dissemination and public engagement, seeking to establish the Visitors’ Center as a national benchmark in education and popularization of scientific culture.