The Biotron's superhuman capabilities meet
human obstacles
By Meghan Moloney
mmolone2@uwo.ca
In an empty hallway of the brand-new Biotron
research facility, there is a whiteboard installed on one wall
with a quote from George Bernard Shaw that someone has written
in marker.
"The reasonable man adapts to the world; the unreasonable
one persists in trying to adapt the world to himself. Therefore,
all progress depends on the unreasonable man."
 |
| Photo by Meghan Moloney |
| From his office window, Norm Huner has
a view of the Biotron, which recently completed construction. |
The Biotron, which recently completed construction at the University
of Western Ontario in London, is a $30-million facility designed
for cutting-edge environmental research. Scientists will be able
to recreate almost any ecosystem from around the world within
the controlled conditions of sealed "biomes," and use
the models to study the effects of climate change on plants, insects
and other organisms.
Although the Biotron has been highly anticipated for the research
possibilities it presents, the process of setting up such a complex
facility also creates several challenges, which will be dealt
with over the next few months before the centre officially opens
this fall. As Shaw pointed out, attempting to change the world
is a lofty proposition. Sometimes scientists have to use more
creativity than reason, as there are bound to be logistical obstacles
along the way.
Many of these challenges are being met by the Biotron's research
advisory board, led by scientific director Norm Huner. A faculty
member at UWO for more than 20 years, Huner has been working since
January 2005 in a separate lab on campus that will be included
in the Biotron as the plants and algae module.
Huner says one of the biggest challenges in operating the Biotron
is its size. Even though the facility is state of the art and
takes up a four-storey building at UWO, as well as another module
at the University of Guelph, it's not big enough, he said.
 |
| Photo by Meghan Moloney |
| Norm Huner shows off some of the experiments
going on at the plant and algae module. |
"Around the world, every different ecosystem needs a Biotron,"
Huner said. "So the biomes are going to be heavily used,
and the competition's going to be quite high for those."
Scientists from around the world can apply to use different facilities
in the Biotron. The best part: they don't need to relocate to
London to monitor their experiments, since the centre features
an online system that gives access to participants from a distance.
The downside is that the competition to use the Biotron won't
be confined to Canada — it will be global.
Huner and the other advisory board members will have to review
proposals submitted by would-be participants and decide which
research experiments should take priority.
One of the determining factors could be whether the research
tackles a crucial climate change issue, he said. The other important
factor is money.
"It's a user fee system. So if you come to use it, you have
to be able to pay for it," he said.
The user fees will vary widely depending on which pieces of equipment
are needed and on the timeline of the project. Costs could range
from $100 per hour for some equipment to $36,000 per year for
the biomes.
Helping to deal with the business side of the Biotron is Amar
Singh, the general manager. Over the four years that Singh has
been involved with the project, his role has shifted from helping
to design, build and equip the facility, to planning how to sustain
it financially.
 |
| Photo by Meghan Moloney |
| Amar Singh gives a tour of the biomes on
the roof of the Biotron. |
While giving a tour of the new building, Singh agreed that the
ability to pay to use the Biotron is a factor in any successful
research proposal. But he also said the rates will be flexible.
"The rates will have to be subsidized in some way,"
he said. "We can't charge scientists too much, because they
only have their NSERC grants. For industry (partners), we can
charge a bit more."
The Biotron will accommodate some industrial research to help
bring in much-needed financial support. But Huner said it will
be a delicate task to balance industry participation with the
rules that govern the facility.
"The Biotron isn't a business," he said, explaining
that 40 per cent of the facility's funding comes from the federal
government's Canada Foundation for Innovation. Its regulations
state that basic research facilities should give access primarily
to academic researchers.
"The magic number is probably 25 per cent of the space and
time can ever be dedicated to industrial partners."
On the other hand, the board faces the challenge of supporting
the centre financially through the money paid by researchers.
"The Biotron is a facility, according to the CFI regulations,
that after five years has to be self-sustaining," said Huner.
"That means we have people who work in the Biotron, and their
salaries have to come from monies that we attract through user
fees — through contracts."
Unfortunately, as Singh pointed out, the non-industrial scientists
who must make up the other 75 per cent of the Biotron's researchers
must compete for small grants to conduct their experiments.
Huner said the advisory board will be sensitive to economic concerns.
"Our goal is that we want the facility to be used for basic
research," he said. "So there's always room for negotiation
— we don't want to turn people away unless it's absolutely
necessary."
Part of the cost of using the facility covers the maintenance
of expensive equipment, such as the imaging lab's $1-million confocal
microscope, the only one of its kind in North America, which allows
users to watch individual cells divide in real time.
 |
| Photo by Meghan Moloney |
| Amar Singh demonstrates how users can view
images from the confocal laser microscope on the computer
monitor. |
The other major cost covered by user fees is salaries for Biotron
staff. Technicians with varying areas of expertise will be operating
the labs and machinery on a daily basis, as well as cleaning,
maintaining and repairing equipment. Staff could also be required
to teach researchers how to use some of the complex equipment
or to run experiments and analysis while scientists work in their
home labs, said Huner.
"The issue will be, of course, where does the money come
from to pay for these individuals," said Huner. "If
we continue to grow, as we expect, and the pressure to use (the
centre) increases, we'll need more and more people."
The problem is that only certain parts of the Biotron —
the imaging lab and the plants and algae module — are up
and running. The areas that will bring in larger contracts, like
the six rooftop greenhouse biomes, the transgenic plant module
and the earth science module, won't open for about a year. Until
more researchers start paying to use the Biotron, money will be
tight.
"We don't know when we're going to (be able to hire more
staff) because we don't have the funding in place," said
Singh. "We're just trying to operate with what we have right
now and as projects come in, we can hire people on a temporary
contract basis until we start generating enough revenue to pay
for permanent people."
Huner said the Biotron is planning a grand opening for the fall
of 2008, including a public symposium on climate change. R.K.
Pachauri, chair of the Nobel prize-winning international panel
on climate change, will give the keynote address, and Huner hopes
to attract the popular CBC radio show Quirks and Quarks as well.
Though the facility still has some technical and physical issues
to sort out, such as testing the temperature controls on the biomes
as the seasons change outside and resealing some of the floors,
Huner said they're aiming to have most of the Biotron contracted
out and being used for research by the time of the grand opening.
"We're hoping it all will be filled. That's our goal."
