AIRLAB
GINYS-ISGLOBAL-003
Dra Sílvia Borràs
Staff Scientist, Cap de l'AIRLAB
AIRLAB – ISGlobal
Paseo de la Circunvalación, 8, 4th floor
08003 Barcelona
The AIRLAB was established in 2019 to promote research and innovation in the characterisation of the chemical and biological composition of the air and its effects on human health. Our objective is to provide scientific and technical support on the monitoring of air quality, air sampling and analysis of (bio)aerosols, both from indoor and outdoor environments. The AIRLAB offers a wide range of services, ranging from the peformance evaluation of air quality sensors, to the cultivation and DNA extraction of airborne microorganisms (e.g. bacteria and fungi) for their downstream characterisation and identification by next-generation sequencing techniques.
The AIRLAB is equipped with state-of-the-art instruments and has different areas, one for microbiological cultures, another for molecular biology analysis, the other for chemical analysis, as well as a microscopy room.
The AIRLAB offers technical and methodological assessment to ISGlobal research projects and to external research groups. ISGlobal researchers can also use the AIRLAB facilities upon request.
Services
- Processing of air samples
- Extraction and quantification of DNA from air samples
- Cultivation of microorganisms from air samples
- Evaluation of air quality sensors
- Analysis of air quality data
- Scientific advice and technical support
- Fluorescence microscopy (autoservice)
Equipment
Specific equipment:
Biosafety cabinet class II (BIO II Advance 4, Telstar)
PCR UV cabinet – DNA/RNA (UVT-S-AR, Grant Instruments)
Fluorometer for DNA quantification (Quantus, Promega)
Thermoshaker (Bioshake iQ, QInstruments)
Bead-beater homogenizer (FastPrep-24™ 5G, MP Biomedicals)
Colony counter (ColonyDoc-It 130, UVP)
Incubated/refrigerated orbital shaker (MaxQ 6000, Thermo Scientific)
Incubator (Incubat, JP Selecta)
Inverted fluorescence microscope (Axio Observer, Zeiss)
Multimode microplate reader – absorbance/fluorescence/luminescence (Infinite M Plex, Tecan)
Portable aerosol spectrometer (11-D, GRIMM)
General basic equipment:
Fume hood (VG AC-150, F-3 TEL, Romero)
Autoclave (D-45, Systec)
Refrigerated centrifuge (5430 R with rotor FA-45-30-11, Eppendorf)
Refrigerated centrifuge (5804 R with rotor A-4-44, Eppendorf)
Minicentrifuge (MC7000, LBX Instruments)
Water bath (Isotemp, Fisherbrand)
Heated ultrasonic bath (S-Series, Fisherbrand)
pH-meter (FiveEasy F20-Std, Mettler Toledo)
Stirring hotplate (Cimarec+, Thermo Scientific)
Vortex mixers
Analytical balance (Adventurer AX224, Ohaus)
Balance (CB complet, Cobos)
Ultrafreezers (BM Essential 690L, Froilabo)
Fridge (MediLine LKv 3910, Liebherr)
Fridge-freezer (MediLine LCv 4010, Liebherr)
Water purification system (Elix Essential 5, Milli-Q Reference)
Washer disinfector (PG 8583 AW-WW-AD-LD, Miele)
Staff
Projects
Title:
AIRBIOME - applying cutting-edge DNA sequencing technologies to unravel the microbial communities present in bioaerosols collected in Japan
Status:
Executing
Title:
MicroBioMap - Knowing the urban microbiome to improve the quality of life
Funding Organism:
Ajuntament de Barcelona
Status:
Executing
Title:
Climate Shelters - impact of implementing measures to adapt schools to climate change, especially rising temperatures.
Funding Organism:
EU-Urban Innovative Actions
Status:
Executing
