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Research Infrastructure Registry in Cyprus

biobank.cy Center of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research

GENERAL INFORMATION

Description and purpose of the Research Infrastructure
Vision Building on a cutting-edge biomedical research infrastructure, we aspire to create new knowledge for improving human health and contribute to the prevention, diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of diseases. Mission Collecting, analyzing, and preserving the biological samples and health data in our state-of-the-art biobank and utilizing them for scientific, diagnostic, and educational innovation.

USEFUL FIGURES

Personnel

46

Personnel

Male

37%

Male

Female

63%

Female

Publications

86

Publications

ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE

  • Academia
  • Industry
  • Public

CONTACT INFO

INFORMATION OF INSTRUMENTATION OPERATING IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE

Freezer
  • Name:  Freezer
  • Description:  Ultra-low temperature freezer (-80°C)
  • Units:  11
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Sample storage
Year:  2011
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU

Available for access
by external users

Freezer
  • Name:  Freezer
  • Description:  Upright Freezer (-20°C)
  • Units:  5
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Sample storage
Year:  2011
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU
Fume hood
  • Name:  Fume hood
  • Description:  Lab ducted fume hood
  • Units:  2
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Prevention of the release of hazardous substances into the laboratory space by controlling and then exhausting hazardous and/or odorous chemicals
Funding Source: 
  • National

Available for access
by external users

Imaging system
  • Name:  Imaging system
  • Description:  Image capture system and analysis
  • Units:  2
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Capture of western blot and gel images and analysis of data. This system supports basic imaging applications associated with chemiluminescent western blots, as well as fluorescent stained nucleic acid gels, fluorescent stained protein gels, and colorimetric stained protein gels.
Year:  2022
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU
Autoclave
  • Name:  Autoclave
  • Description:  Steam steriliser
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC/biobank.cy
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Steralisation of laboratory consumables
Hood
  • Name:  Hood
  • Description:  Cell culture hood
  • Units:  2
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Protection of cell cultures and researcher from contamination
Centrifuge
  • Name:  Centrifuge
  • Units:  15
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Fluid component separation
Refrigerated centrifuge
  • Name:  Refrigerated centrifuge
  • Units:  3
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Cryogenic dewar
  • Name:  Cryogenic dewar
  • Description:  Liquid nitrogen vessel
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Sample storage
Incubator
  • Name:  Incubator
  • Description:  Insulated enclosure in which temperature, humidity, and other environmental conditions can be regulated at levels optimal for growth, hatching, or reproduction.
  • Units:  5
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Culture of cells
Liquid handling robot
  • Name:  Liquid handling robot
  • Description:  Hamilton STARlet M Aliquot System
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Automation of sample aliquoting
Year:  2022
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU

Available for access
by external users

Liquid handling robot
  • Name:  Liquid handling robot
  • Description:  Hamilton STAR M High volume Extraction System fitted with the appropriate equipment and protocols for DNA extraction from 5 ml EDTA whole blood.
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Automation of extraction, quantification, and aliquoting of DNA
Year:  2022
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU

Available for access
by external users

Confocal microscope
  • Name:  Confocal microscope
  • Description:  A specialized form of standard fluorescence microscopy that uses particular optical components to generate high-resolution images of material stained with fluorescent probes.
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Visualisation and image capture of cells and tissues
Year:  2022
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU

Available for access
by external users

Microtome
  • Name:  Microtome
  • Description:  Manual microtome
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Production of extremely thin slices (sections) of tissue samples for consequent staining and visualisation
Year:  2022
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU

Available for access
by external users

Refrigerator
  • Name:  Refrigerator
  • Units:  9
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Storage of consumables and reagents
Next-generation sequencer
  • Name:  Next-generation sequencer
  • Description:  Next-generation sequencing (NGS) is a massively parallel sequencing technology that offers ultra-high throughput, scalability, and speed. The technology is used to determine the order of nucleotides in entire genomes or targeted regions of DNA or RNA.
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Parallel sequencing of hundreds of genes simultaneously to detect novel or rare variants
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU

Available for access
by external users

Sanger sequencer
  • Name:  Sanger sequencer
  • Description:  Sanger sequencing, also known as the chain termination method, is a technique for DNA sequencing based upon the selective incorporation of chain-terminating dideoxynucleotides (ddNTPs) by DNA polymerase during in vitro DNA replication.
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Sequencing for validation of gene variants
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU

Available for access
by external users

Ion Chef
  • Name:  Ion Chef
  • Description:  NGS workflow simplification.
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Automated library preparation, template preparation, and chip loading for NGS.
Thermal Cycler
  • Name:  Thermal Cycler
  • Description:  Polymerase chain reaction machine.
  • Units:  13
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Amplification of DNA.
Real-time PCR
  • Name:  Real-time PCR
  • Description:  Real-time polymerase chain reaction machine.
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Real-time monitoring of PCR products useful for investigating gene expression.
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU

Available for access
by external users

Hybridisation oven
  • Name:  Hybridisation oven
  • Description:  Instrument used for accurate temperature control for active mixing and hybridisation.
  • Units:  2
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Prehybridisation and hybridisation of membranes used in blotting techniques as well as for active, temprature controlled mixing.
Biobank Information Management System
  • Name:  Biobank Information Management System
  • Description:  Software for managing the biobank systems, aliquots, samples, freezers, destribution, shipments, etc.
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
This software is used to manage all the relative biobank systems being physical or virtual (samples, storage, freezers, etc.)
Year:  2020
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU

Available for access
by external users

Electronic Data Capture System
  • Name:  Electronic Data Capture System
  • Description:  Advanced software that is used to electronically collect information
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
A secure web application designed for data collection and management in research studies and clinical trials. It provides a user-friendly interface for researchers to create electronic forms, capture data, and store it in a secure and compliant manner. It is widely used in academic and healthcare settings to streamline data collection and facilitate data analysis, making it a valuable tool for research projects and data-driven studies.

Available for access
by external users

Computing server nodes
  • Name:  Computing server nodes
  • Description:  Computing nodes that are used for computational heavy tasks
  • Units:  3
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
The computing nodes are used to host several virtual systems for bioinformatics, health and biobank informatics applications
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU

Available for access
by external users

Data storage
  • Name:  Data storage
  • Description:  Petabyte data storage units
  • Units:  3
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Storage medium to hold the data and information generated in the biobank. Current capacity is 3 Petabytes
Funding Source: 
  • National
  • EU

Available for access
by external users

Virtual Machine hypervisor
  • Name:  Virtual Machine hypervisor
  • Description:  System to manage virtual machines and containers
  • Units:  3
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Specialized software and platform, το manage virtual machines and containers

Available for access
by external users

Genetic variant management system
  • Name:  Genetic variant management system
  • Description:  System to manage the vast amounts of information from genomics experiments
  • Units:  1
  • Hosting Laboratory / Department:  MMRC
Brief description of the utilization of the instrument:
Software designed for annotating and prioritizing genetic variants. It is primarily used in genomics and bioinformatics to help researchers and clinicians analyze genetic variants by providing information about their potential functional impact and relevance to diseases.

Available for access
by external users