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What is SPF? Experimental animals are classified into germ-free animals, microbial animals, specific pathogen free animals and common animals, each according to the presence of microbes in a certain environment. Of these, Specific Pathogen Free animals are referred to as SPF animals, namely, those animals without a ¡§specific pathogen¡¨ distributed or infested within them or onto their surfaces.
¡@Why are SPF Animal Centers required? This is because there are increasing demands on the quality of experimental animals along with the progress level of science and medical research. Without the presence of high-quality experimental animals, research in life sciences is unlikely to obtain consistent and accurate results, and reproduction of experiments would be much harder to achieve. SPF animals are free from pathogens in order to maintain a healthy neutral state, thus the test results achieved via SPF animals can ensure the accuracy of experimental results and avoid any disturbances by external factors (pathogens).
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As strict measures shall be taken to avoid the intrusion of pathogens, SPF animals are required to be maintained and bred in a barrier system. A barrier system is an enclosed system wherein air must be subjected to HEPA filtering (including removal of viruses) in order to avoid intrusion by any pathogens. In addition, all breeding instruments and foodstuffs in this system shall be strictly sterilized, and the system temperature/humidity must be kept at a constant level (20-25 degrees Celsius, humidity at 50-70%). All work staff accessing the system are required to be healthy and wear sterilized clothes, masks, caps, gloves and shoes.
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A great amount of investment is required to build and maintain a high-quality SPF Animal Center, for instance, a single standard SPF Animal Center means an investment up to NT$60 million. |
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Invitation of SPF Animal Center in GSB
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| Location |
Science Park , Tamshui Town , Taipei County , |
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Area |
Animal facility space is about 330 square meter |
| Animal Region |
I. (Barrier Area)
I. Animal room barrier area, the main facilities include: |
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1. Forecourt
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High pressure/temperature steaming autoclave, UV-light box, filtered water operation and storage container, dirt process room, feed and bedding storage room, specimen room¡Ket al.. The air condition is with pre-filter and HEPA filter. |
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2. Middle court |
Cleaning sink, outside clothes exchange and storage room, airshower room, and dressing room. |
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3. Inner court |
This is a barrier area for SPF animals holding. The area is separate d to A, B and C rooms. The pressure in whole area is positive, and the pressure difference is 3pa. The animals in A, B and C rooms are for the drug safety study. The pressures in these rooms are 2pa higher than the corridor and inner court space. There is an experiment operation room, and the room may use for animal q uarantine. |
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4. Maximum holding number |
300 cages for rat-cage or 450 cages for mice-cage |
| II.
Clean Convention |
| 1. There are six room (D1, D, E, F, G, H) in this space, a corridor, and an operation space at the post court. |
| 2. These rooms are all for experiments of the health food and functional study. |
| 3. Overview of the hardware of the facility |
(1) Air-condition: The air is passes through the HEPA filter to the barrier, for whole clean areae.
(2) Sterile water: The water is pass through the water system PRO2000TM, I.W. Technologies Inc. in the SPF area. This water is put into water bottles, and is sterilized through high pressure/ temperature steaming autoclave for animals. |
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| Double Door Autoclave |
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Air Shower Room |
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Guinea Pig Stainless Suspension Cage |
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Metabolic Cage |
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