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High-security biological research lab proposed for Wooster

OARDC facility could answer need for knowledge on contagious pathogens

COLUMBUS -- Researchers at the Ohio Agricultural Research and Development Center (OARDC), Ohio State University’s agricultural research arm, are proposing a Biological Health and Safety Facility be built on their Wooster campus that will enable them to take the study of highly contagious pathogens to the next level.

“Our researchers continue to be at the cutting edge of this highly technological arena; however, it is imperative that in order to go further, we need the high tech facilities in place to do so,” said Steven Slack, director of OARDC.

The 64,000-square-foot, high-security facility would give them the tools to develop methods to diagnose and control these diseases, and study how they are transmitted, said Mo Saif, professor and head of the Food Animal Health Research Program at OARDC, in a report to the The Ohio State University Board of Trustees on Nov. 2.

 “What we are proposing here in Ohio would certainly be a unique facility because it would be suited for working with plants and animals," Saif said. "So far, there hasn't been a facility in the country that combines both plant and animal containment."

Saif said the connection between animals and humans is significant. Out of 1,700 known infectious agents, Saif said that 49 percent are transmittable from animals to humans.

Currently, researchers at OARDC tend to shy away from working with the most highly contagious pathogens because they don’t have a facility that can contain them, Saif said. However, a new facility could change that. All air entering or leaving the building would be filtered, with any contaminants captured.

The need for such a facility has been discussed for several years because of the intensity of plant health and animal health research conducted at OARDC, Saif said. He added that the need is especially timely now. With the threat of biological warfare in this country today, some of those pathogens will be the kinds of things that we will be involved with in the new facility," Saif said. 

He said the facility would not only help researchers develop methods to diagnose and control highly contagious diseases, but help find ways to understand how they are transmitted, how they reside in nature and how they interact with their host.

The purpose of the presentation was to inform trustees, with no action required. Saif said OSU funding for the $25 million facility is not currently available, but that the federal and state governments will be approached for funding. In fact, he said, the state has already provided $200,000 to begin the planning process.

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