Laboratories

BSL-2 Laboratories

The majority of the laboratories at Swiss TPH have the biosafety level 2 (BSL-2) to protect humans and the environment from hazards or damage that could be caused by the genetically modified, pathogenic or alien organisms used. It is our credo to study the real pathogens rather than substitutes or model organisms. Hence, we maintain a large collection of pathogenic microorganisms and helminths that we use to study pathogen biology and host-pathogen interaction, and to develop new drug and vaccine candidates.
 

Researcher working in a BSL-2 lab (Photo: J. Pelikan/Swiss TPH)
A researcher is adding culture medium to Plasmodium falciparum parasites in a 96-well plate.
Researcher of the Helminth Drug Development unit (Photo: J. Pelikan/Swiss TPH)
The liquid chromatography HPLC-MS set is used to detect and quantify small amounts of molecules.
Diagnostic laboratory of Swiss TPH (Photo: J. Pelikan/Swiss TPH)
A glimpse into the diagnostic laboratory, where numerous samples are analysed every day.

Central Laboratory

The central laboratory of Swiss TPH hosts several parasitic cycles that are used for drug development and testing, for example in the field of helminth research or as a source of antigens for diagnostics. Hosting a parasitic cycle includes the parasite at all stages of its life, the intermediate and the final host(s). The parasitic cycles we grow depend on ongoing research projects, but we have four permanent helminth cycles, namely Schistosoma mansoni, Angiostrongylus, Strongyloides ratti and Acanthocheilonema viteae.
 

Adult pair of Schistosoma mansoni (Photo: Y. Endriss/Swiss TPH)
Schistosoma mansoni, adult pair, male and female, living in the host's portal vein.
Angiostrongylus cantonensis, adult females and males (Photo: Y. Endriss/Swiss TPH)
Angiostrongylus cantonensis, adult females and males.
Strongyloides ratti, adult female (Photo: Y. Endriss)
Strongyloides ratti, adult female, lives parasitically in the intestine of rats, produces parthenogenetic (virgin) eggs
Artifical feeding of tropical leather tick (Photo: Y. Endriss/ Swiss TPH)
The tropical leather tick Ornithodorus moubata is the vector of Acanthocheilonema viteae (rodent filaria). The picture shows the artificial feeding of the vector of this cycle.

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