Media Release

SECURE PLANT FACILITY ENABLES WORLD CLASS RESEARCH

7 March 2002

Australian researchers and scientists will benefit from a $6 million, world standard, plant research facility which has been opened today at The Australian National University.

The Plant Culture Facility (PCF), at the ANU’s Research School of Biological Sciences, enables researchers to artificially control many aspects of the environment and grow genetically modified plants.

The PCF has two major components. One part houses facilities for soil mixing, sterilisation, potting and washing, as well as laboratory analysis. A second containment area houses growth cabinets and 20 specially designed walk-in growth rooms. Experiments utilising genetically altered plants can be safely carried out in these purpose built growth cabinets which enable researchers to control temperature, light, humidity and carbon dioxide levels.

All research conducted at the PCF will be required to meet the strict standards set by the Gene Technology Regulator and the Australian Quarantine Service.

At every stage the design and construction of the PCF has met exacting standards to ensure plant materials never escape and that all aspects of plant handling are strictly controlled. The complex incorporates hydraulics, air conditioning and sterilisation facilities – all designed in collaboration with ACT and Commonwealth regulatory authorities. The Plant Culture Facility’s excellent standards provide the benchmark against which any other plant growth facility will be judged.

The ANU’s Research School is a world leader in some fields of biological sciences and a national leader in graduate student training in these areas.

The new Facility will help to ensure that the Research School of Biological Sciences is well positioned to benefit from the Government’s additional $3 billion investment in research, announced last year in Backing Australia’s Ability. Much of the funding announced in Backing Australia’s Ability will be used to ensure that research infrastructure in Australia’s universities is world-class.

The initiatives announced in Backing Australia’s Ability will boost Australia’s capacity to generate ideas, improve the commercialisation of research, and build a workforce with the right mix of skills for the future.

They will also ensure that Australia remains a dynamic, internationally competitive economy, able to attract and retain the brightest researchers and business professionals.

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