Responsible: Adrianna Ianora
Activities
The Biotechnology Laboratory is a multidisciplinary lab that uses and develops different approaches dedicated to the study of marine drug discovery. Research activities include sampling, isolation and maintenance of marine species of biotechnological interest (especially microalgae), preparation of chemical extracts, testing the potential bioactivity at the gene and protein levels of extracts on human cells and model marine organisms.
Experimental Systems
- Molecular and chemical facilities applied to marine biotechnology.
- Human cell culture chambers (biological hood type 1, incubator for human cells, microscopes).
- Rooms for microalgal growth.
- Room with 2 Bioreactors.
Analysis
- Isolation and maintenance of microalgae for potential biotechnological applications.
- Cultivation of microalgae at the small (flasks), medium (10L carboys) and large scale (photobioreactors 100 L).
- Genotyping of new species by DNA sequencing.
- Bioassays testing biological activity of extracts, fractions and pure compounds on marine model species and human cell lines.
- Antiproliferative and clonogenic bioassays against aggressive tumor cell lines.
- Antioxidant and anti-inflammatory bioassays on normal cell lines.
- Cellular senescence (anti-aging)bioassays.
- Chronic human diseases (diabetes, Alzheimer's, Crohn's disease) bioassays.
- Molecular studies at the gene and protein levels to identify specific pathways activated by bioactive compounds on human cells (retroviral transfection, PCR array, immunoblot, ELISA).
- Transcriptome analysis of microalgal species.
Equipment
- Basic instrumentation for molecular biology and protein analysis (PCR, centrifuges, electrophoresis apparatus, transilluminator, thermostatic baths, spectrophotometer, pH meter, transblot).
- Biological Type 2 hood for micralgal cultures.
- Chemical hood.
- Microscopes.
- 2 photobioreactors (100 L).
