Masaryk University offers laboratories for coronavirus research free of charge

CEITEC Masaryk University is offering priority access, free of charge, to their equipment in shared laboratories including research expertise for research that may lead to the development of a vaccine or drug against COVID-19.

Since last week, Czech and international researchers, who are involved in research related to the COVID-19 disease, can take advantage of the modern research facilities specializing in structural biology. CEITEC Masaryk University, and BIOCEV, the shared centre of the Czech Academy of Sciences and Charles University, are both offering their research infrastructures and professional scientific expertise, which will allow for the study of the virus structure and its interaction with the environment, down to the atomic level.

“This has a crucial meaning in the search for a suitable cure against this novel illness, whether in the form of a vaccine or drug. Both institutes have state-of-the-art equipment, which is absolutely unique in the Central European context, and they can fully supplement other European centers that are currently closed due to the spreading pandemic,” adds Vladimir Sklenar from Masaryk University.

Earlier, on March 20, Masaryk University has received permission from the National Institute of Public Health to carry out coronavirus testing on CEITEC´s premises. Three CEITEC MU laboratories were set aside for the coronavirus testing.

“The current pandemic shows the strategic social importance of life sciences and that we are prepared, among other things, by having core facilities with the best international standards,” says Jiri Nantl, Director of CEITEC Masaryk University.

CEITEC MU

is an independent university institute, established at Masaryk University as part of the CEITEC – CEO Center of Excellence. It plays a key role in the state-of-the-art research infrastructure that was built in 2014 at the University Campus in Brno–Bohunice and provides top equipment and ideal conditions for basic and applied research, particularly in the field of life sciences.

The main priorities of CEITEC are the international dimension of research cooperation and its interdisciplinary nature. The interconnected element among science disciplines is, above all, core facilities that create optimal conditions for addressing multidisciplinary issues in the areas of structural biology, genomics and proteomics, molecular medicine, neuroscience, nanotechnology and microtechnology.