The IVI recently completed the refurbishment of its new high bio-containment (Biosafety Level 3+) laboratories, which will allow the Institute to take on research to develop vaccines against dangerous pathogens, including avian influenza and tuberculosis.

The new BSL3+ laboratories with high-tech equipment have been refurbished in a 349 sq. meter space with a 2 billion won grant, generously provided by the Government of Korea (Ministry of Education, Science and Technology), at the IVI headquarters building. The facilities were constructed by Green Cross Engineering Management (GCEM), a leading bioengineering firm in Korea.

Dr. Barbara Johnson, a certifier of biosafety and biosecurity, 
conducts a test to check the safety standards of facilities at
the Biosafety Level 3+ laboratories, which have been newly 
refurbished at IVI headquarters in Seoul in October 2008.

The laboratories have been established in a way that strictly follows international safety standards of bio-containment facilities to assure the highest level of safety not only for researchers but also for the environment and community. These standards include those of the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Diseases Control and Prevention (CDC), the U.S. National Institutes of Health, and Health Canada, as well as those of Korean health authorities.

Work in the BSL3+ laboratories will include characterizing emerging viruses and selecting candidate vaccine strains against avian influenza (AI). The highly virulent H5N1 strain of AI, which has affected many parts of the world over the past several years, can be handled safely only in BSL3 or BSL4 facilities.