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New lab animal facility unveiled

A researcher handles rat cages at the Tainan branch of the National Laboratory Animal Center in Tainan County yesterday. PHOTO: YANG MEI-HUNG, TAIPEI TIMES

The nation’s biomedical technology sector reached a new milestone yesterday when the National Applied Research Laboratories (NARL) unveiled its National Laboratory Animal Center (NLAC) in the Southern Taiwan Science Park in Tainan County.

To meet the nation’s increasing demands in biomedical research and development, and to balance laboratory animal resources in northern and southern Taiwan, the NARL has spent three-and-a-half years building the five-story, 15,950m2 facility furnished with state-of-the-art equipment capable of producing healthy, stable and contamination-free animals, NLAC director-general Simon Liang (梁善居) said at yesterday’s opening ceremony.

The establishment of the center was a demonstration of the National Science Council’s (NSC) determination to expand the capacity of the NARL’s animal center, so that in addition to supplying test animals, the center would also offer research and development capacities, NSC Minister Chen Chien-jen (陳建仁) said.

“The completion of NLAC is happening at just the right time, with the surging demand for biomedical technologies in this age, the passing of the New Pharmaceutical Development Act (生技新藥產業發展條例) at the legislature last year and several foreign pharmaceutical and bio-tech firms expressing investment interest in Taiwan at the moment,” Chen said.

The NT$873 million (US$28.8 million) facility sports a central control room that monitors the temperature, humidity, pressure and personnel access of each room and animal nurseries that are sterilized according to international standards, Liang said, adding that animals are kept in micro-isolators to eliminate cross-contamination.

Though the center currently only accommodates lab rats and hamsters, Liang said that larger mammals such as dogs may be bred in the future should the government’s policies demand them.

“The bottleneck in current animal research is that not enough space and trained personnel is available for many research labs, however many industries like drugs, cosmetics, household products and biotech require quality lab animals for research and improvements,” Liang said.

“All our staff are trained for six months to follow stringent procedures in our sterile laboratories. [With the quality control] our animals give more consistent and accurate results,” Liang said.

The NLAC has three main purposes, Liang said. While 70 percent of the task force is devoted to services and supply [to schools, researchers and the bio-tech industry], 20 percent is for research and development and 10 percent is for talent training, he said.

“In addition to supplying quality lab rats, we also provide ‘animal hotels’ where we can maintain customers’ rats for them in our premium facilities,” Liang said.

Researchers wishing to save space and time can even opt to freeze the embryos of their animals and re-breed them when needed, he said.

Asked about the cost for the services the center provided, Liang said the government-owned NLAC was not-for-profit and so fees would only cover costs.

The center hopes to reach full production capacity within three years, producing 200,000 rats while housing another 100,000 in the “hotel” section per year, Liang said.
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