biobank.cy Center of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research

GENERAL INFORMATION

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Name of infrastructure: biobank.cy Center of Excellence in Biobanking and Biomedical Research

Hosting Entity

University of Cyprus

Scientific Domain: Collections of Biological Resources, Bio-Informatics Facilities, Genomic, Transcriptomic, Proteomics and Metabolomics Facilities, Systems Biology/Computational Biology Facilities, Biological/Biomedical Engineering and Biotechnology/Nanotechnology Research Facilities, Clinical Research Centres, Cell Culture Facilities, Biomedical Imaging Facilities

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

46

Personnel

37%

Male

63%

Female

86

Publications

ACCESS TO INFRASTRUCTURE

Academia
Industry
Public

CONTACT INFO

Address: 1 University Avenue, Aglantzia

Postal Code: 2029

City: Nicosia

Website: https://biobank.cy

Head of RI: Constantinos Deltas

Contact Person of RI: Apostolos Malatras | 22892815

Photos & Videos

INFORMATION OF INSTRUMENTATION OPERATING IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE

Freezer

Name: Freezer
Description: Ultra-low temperature freezer (-80°C)
Units: 15
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