Introduction of Department of Research Resources
The Institutional Center of Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences was established on November 29, 2006. As one of the inaugural batches of institute-level public technical service centers to receive preferential support from the Chinese Academy of Sciences, it was renamed in 2019 and officially upgraded to Department of Research Resources (hereinafter referred to as the ‘Institutional Center’).
The Institutional Center is committed to building a world-class public technical support system that integrates advanced facilities, cutting-edge technology and efficient management, with the objective of comprehensively improving the discipline development and scientific and technological support capabilities of the institute in the field of biomedicine and health. The Institutional Center closely focuses on the implementation of the "14th Five-Year Plan" of Guangzhou Institute of Health, as well as the demands of major national projects and the construction of large-scale scientific research facilities for human cell lineage studies. Through continuous optimization of resource allocation and strengthening of technological innovation, the center provides efficient and high-quality key technical support services for scientific research, and effectively promotes the research of numerous major scientific and technological equipment projects.
In terms of organizational structure, the Institutional Center operates under the leadership of the council, with oversight from the management committee, and is directed by the center director. The structure includes a management committee, a management office, five public support platforms, and six specialized support platforms, collectively forming a comprehensive and efficient support management system.
>>Public Support Platforms:
Analytical Instrumentation Core functions as a public technical support platform for Guangzhou Institute of Health, integrating major instruments and equipment for subcellular structure analysis, cell function identification, and biological molecule and compound analysis, offering significant technological advantages.
Laboratory Animal Core provides comprehensive and high-quality technical support services for scientific research, including experimental animal and animal experiment management, biosafety management, experimental operations, sample collection and processing, quality testing, animal model construction, and experimental data organization and analysis.
Biomedical Data Analytics and Supercomputing Core serves as a training hub for high-performance computing applications in biomedical sciences, offering over 1,000 application software options. It provides specialized computing platforms that facilitate a range of computational services, including large-scale scientific calculations, data simulation experiments, validation, and related data visualization in fields such as stem cells and regenerative medicine, innovative drug design, space omics, and single-cell analysis.
Therapeutic Cell Manufacturing and Research Core conducts in-depth research on cell therapy technologies, exploring new methods and approaches for disease treatment using cellular therapies by developing innovative therapeutic solutions.
>>Featured Support Platforms:
Mouse Embryology Research platform is equipped with a high-end fluorescence inverted microscope operation system and a precise laser membrane-breaking system. Additionally, it is integrated with advanced micro-needle manufacturing technology and a customized reagent preparation capability. The platform is capable of performing a range of microscopic operations on embryos, including pre-implantation or post-implantation embryo collection, isolation of ICM and TE cells at the blastocyst stage, microinjection, mouse cloning, stem cell 4n-fold embryo complementation, and other techniques related to assisted reproductive technology. Additionally, services such as sperm or embryo cryopreservation and related technical support are available to meet the diverse needs of scientific research and clinical practice.
Standardized Cell Testing Laboratory (SCTL) has established a comprehensive quality management system and has been accredited by the China National Accreditation Service for Conformity Assessment (CNAS) to ISO/IEC 17025. The laboratory focuses on providing scientific, accurate, fair and efficient standardized quality testing services for a wide range of potentially therapeutic cellular and biological agents. These services cover a wide range of dimensions, including cellular properties, function, purity and safety. SCTL plays a crucial role in providing essential quality assurance and technical support for the development and application of cell and organoid therapies.
Life science equipment development service platform is a scientific research service platform that integrates high-end equipment and specialized technical personnel. It is equipped with a variety of advanced manufacturing technologies, including CNC VMC100p vertical machining centers, high-speed CNC engraving and milling machines, CNC lathes and other mechanical processing equipment. Additionally, it utilizes the BMF nanoArch P140 high-precision microscale 3D printing system and Microwriter ML3 small desktop maskless photolithography, which together ensure precision manufacturing capability across a broad range of scales, from microscopic to macroscopic. Furthermore, the comprehensive software and hardware platform for circuit debugging and optical circuit building, combined with the expertise of the professional engineers in the fields of biological 3D printing, scientific research machinery, circuit control, scientific research optical equipment, and microfluidic chip design and testing, enables the provision of customized scientific research services, including, but not limited to, 3D printing of biological microstructures, development of experimental automation equipment, application of special micro-imaging technology, and the design and fabrication of microfluidic chips and related experiments.
Proteome characteristic support platform as the central technical platform of Guangzhou Institute of Health, it effectively integrates the major protein research-related advanced instruments and equipment within the institute. It possesses significant technical advantages in protein-protein interaction resolution, proteomic expression differences and protein post-translational modification.
RNomics Analysis Featured Support Platform, also serving as the central technical platform of Guangzhou Institute of Health, integrates the major RNA research-related advanced instruments and equipment of Guangzhou Institute of Health, and possesses outstanding technological advantages in the identification and quantification of nascent RNA transcripts, as well as the analysis of RNA-protein interactions.
South China Stem Cell Translational Resource Center, a key cell resource preservation and service platform in South China, focuses on the preservation, standardized testing and efficient distribution of high-quality cell resources. The center relies on advanced GMP production workshops, cell standard testing laboratories and high-efficiency management systems to provide technological support and resource protection for stem cell translational research, product development and popularization of science and technology education.
The Institutional Center is equipped with over 300 sets of instruments and equipment, including those valued at RMB 500,000 or more, which are all included in the ‘Instrument and Equipment Sharing Management Platform of the Chinese Academy of Sciences’. Adhering to the core concept of ‘integrated planning, classified construction, dedicated management, and sharing of resources’, the Center has devised a management model for large-scale equipment with the objective of enhancing the quality and efficiency of scientific research and innovation work. Additionally, the Institutional Center is open for sharing with research units and companies nationwide. The reservation website is http://samp.cas.cn/ .