The first of IBO’s biannual new laboratory roundup focuses on the Middle East and food testing in Asia. Despite the drop in the price of oil, oil money continues to stimulate new lab growth in the Middle East. The establishment of food safety testing laboratories in Asia is a high priority for independent testing laboratories, due to growing food exports and recent scandals (see IBO 9/15/08). The article also covers growth of new biosafety facilities at US universities.

Middle East

In the Middle East, Saudi Arabia and Qatar house new lab space due to oil and government projects (see IBO 4/30/08). By the end of 2009, Saudi Arabia will complete construction of the King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (see IBO 2/15/09). The international graduate-level research university will contain over two million square feet of lab space, which will be split into four research institutions: resources, energy and environment; bioscience and bioengineering; materials science and engineering; and applied mathematics and computational sciences. The University will be located near Thuwal. Also in Saudi Arabia, at the end of March, Impact Laboratories, a spin off of BP Chemicals, plans to build a £30 million ($44 million) plastics research center for Tasnee Petrochemicals. The research center, part of a $1 billion petrochemical complex being developed by the National Industrialization Company, will have nine laboratories and a machine processing hall for ethylene, polyethylene and polypropylene research.

In Qatar, QATARGAS opened its RAS Laffan facility in December 2008. The more than 17,200-square-foot facility contains five laboratories, each for working with one of four substances: gas, petroleum, water and sulfur. The facility will also provide private analysis services. Also in Qatar, the Qatar Science and Technology Park (QSTP), though operating since 2004, was officially opened at the end of February. The 45,000-square-foot research park currently holds 21 operations such as ExxonMobil Research, which conducts environmental research, and the Qatar Petroleum Research and Technology Center. The aluminum provider Hydro announced in January that it would build the Hydro Technology Center (HTC) in the QSTP in order to study the productiveness of the Qatalum aluminum plant that the company is also currently constructing in the country. When fully operational, the $7 million HTC will occupy about 5,000 square feet.

Food Testing

Independent testing has become an area of focus in Asia due the recent lead and melamine scandals in China. In Delhi, India, Intertek is building a food-testing laboratory, which is expected to open in October. The company will spend Rs10 crore ($2 million) on the facility, which will offer testing for pesticides, antibiotic drug residue, heavy metals and nutrition in food. According to Food & Beverage News, a company spokesman announced that over the next three years, the company will invest Rs60 crore ($12 million) to expand all of its Indian facilities. By December, India will be home to its first tobacco research laboratories. The six laboratories, which will be constructed through the expansion of existing facilities, will receive Rs57 crore ($11.4 million). The largest facility will be set up in Chandigarh. The laboratories will test the veracity of labeling information provided by cigarette manufacturers for nicotine, tar and carbon monoxide. The US’s Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) will help India conduct the testing.

In March, independent testing firm SGS Life Sciences opened a third-party food testing laboratory at a local company in the Dalian, Liaoning province of China. The laboratory serves agriculture and fish companies in the region. According to Dalian News, SGS cited the recent global economic crisis as giving smaller, local companies a chance to be competitive internationally by offering lower prices. That same month, the company opened a microbiology laboratory at its 7,500-square-foot Shanghai Life Sciences facility. The lab will offer a range of testing services including microbiology limit tests and endotoxin testing. At the beginning of April, Eurofins opened a food testing laboratory in Suzhou, China, to provide international-standard service. According to the company, it plans for further investments in more staff members and LC/MS/MS, GC/MS and ICP/MS systems.

Biosafety

Homeland security concerns continue to be a catalyst for new labs in the US, with many universities investing in biosafety laboratory space (see IBO 4/30/08). This month, the Ohio State University (OSU) approved the construction of the Plant and Animal Agrosecurity Research Facility to be located on OSU’s Wooster Campus, which will be used by researchers working in the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center. The facility will have three biosafety-level-3 (BSL-3) labs and two BSL-3 Ag Isolation rooms for working with large animals. Construction of the $21.7 million facility will begin in September.

In February, the CDC began the expansion of its laboratories located on Colorado State University’s Foothill campus in Fort Collins, Colorado. The $14 million expansion will convert empty office space into facilities that will include BSL-2 and -3 laboratories for conducting vectorborne disease research. Construction is expected to be completed in January 2010. Finally, in conjunction with the National Bio and Agro-Defense Facility (NABF) (see table, pg. 4), the Midwest Research Institute (MRI) announced that it has established MRI-Kansas, which is located in the Manhattan/K-State Innovation Center. One of the main functions of MRI-Kansas will be to jump start NABF research, development, testing and evaluation. The branch will also conduct animal health research and energy R&D. The facility is expected to open this month.

New Laboratories

Biosafety

Laboratory: National Bio- and Agro- Defense Facility (NBAF)

Organization: US Department of Homeland Security

Location: Manhattan, Kansas

Details: The 520,000-sq.-ft. NBAF, built to study animal and zoonotic diseases, will cost $450–$650 million and replace the Plum Island Animal Disease Center in New York. The laboratories will house 250 to 350 scientists and support staff.

Timeline: Construction to begin 2010, operational in 2015

Laboratory: New England Regional Biosafety Laboratory

Organization: National Institutes of Health

Location: Medford, Massachusetts

Details: The 41,000-sq.-ft., $33.7 million laboratory will create 29 and will be used to study diseases that can be passed from animals to humans. The lab is available for use by all scientists in the region.

Timeline: Opened March 30, 2009

Government

Laboratory: Precision Measurement Laboratory

Organization: National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST)

Location: Boulder, Colorado

Details: The 120,000-sq.-ft. building will house new lab space for the creation of “nanowire lasers” for applications such as biochemical weapon detection and cancer research. The building will consist of instrument labs, a cleanroom block, and public and office spaces.

Timeline: Scheduled to open in the fourth quarter of 2011

Laboratory: Public Health Laboratory

Organization: Mississippi State Health Department

Location: Jackson, Mississippi

Details: The 60,000-sq.-ft., $25 million lab will serve as a replacement for the state’s 30,000-sq.-ft. lab. It will focus on infectious disease detection and environmental contamination.

Timeline: Construction is expected to end in mid-2011

Universities

Laboratory: Andlinger Center for Energy and the Environment

Organization: Princeton University

Location: Princeton, New Jersey

Details: The $375 million center will cover 110,000-sq.-ft. and include laboratory facilities for nanofabrication, photonics and energy storage research focused on energy efficiency and conservation.

Timeline: Scheduled to be completed in early 2014

Laboratory: Nanofab East Office and Laboratory Building

Organization: University at Albany

Location: Albany, New York

Details: The 350,000-sq.-ft., $150 million expansion of the University of Albany’s NanoCollege will also support a $505 million initiative that focuses on cutting-edge nanotechnology research for next-generation transistor technologies.

Timeline: Opened March 30, 2009