PLATIN-OI

The study of emerging (Zika) or re-emerging (Dengue) viruses requires safety conditions for both the researcher and the environment. The technical platform Platin-OI of the Reunion University, funded by ERDF (Europe, State, Region Reunion) aims to meet the legal and technical requirements for the handling of class 3 viral pathogens that are burden for the environment or public health. PLATIN-OI deserves its originality from the fact that it consists of a set of 4 confined laboratories physically interconnected with each other: a level 2 Insectarium (I2) allowing the breeding and production of mosquitoes, linked to three high-level level 3 laboratories - a virology laboratory (P3) for the study, cultivation and production of viruses; an Insectarium (I3) to carry out experiments in medical entomology with experimental infections on vectors in order to evaluate their vectorial competence and the role of the associated microbiota; an animal facility (A3) allowing animal experimentation to develop physiopathology approaches on small vertebrates (mice).
This technical platform will provide the research teams with working conditions guaranteeing an absolute containment. Platin-OI supports air-handling units with absolute sterile filters, in input and output, its hygrometry and its temperature are controlled. The laboratories, which can accommodate a total of 10 to 12 experimenters simultaneously, are maintained in differential negative pressure, and include 4 microbiological safety cabinets (MSC class II), 4 freezers at -80 °C, and a double autoclave high-level entrance used for the decontamination of waste. Microscopes, centrifuges (including a very high velocity ultracentrifuge) and cell culture incubators, as well as several bioclimatic chambers are also available. A material decontamination airlock allows independent entrances / exits of the double entry airlock.
PLATIN-OI has been designed to allow the implementation of all the most innovative techniques, ranging from cell culture to insect handling, from viral production to that of experimentation on animal models. It is perfectly adapted to the study of vector-borne diseases, and allows the development of experiments on the whole chain of transmission of arboviruses (Zika, Dengue). Safety, versatility and scalability have guided the design of PLATIN-OI for which many types of equipment have been specifically designed.