Research Institutes Offer Expertise and Resources to Fight Coronavirus

James Hutton Institute, Scottish Rural College and Rowett Institute are moving away from contagious livestock, environmental and nutritional diseases to provide the necessary scientific equipment to facilitate testing, and have also offered staff to work on projects.

The Minister for Environment, Roseanna Cunningham said: “Scotland is proud to have some of the world’s leading science and research institutions. During this unprecedented global pandemic, the response of our research institutions in volunteering staff and laboratory equipment has been great to see.”

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“In the long term, their collective expertise and resources could make a huge difference in accelerating our understanding of, and refining our response to, this virus," she continued.

“More immediately, the provision of PPE and laboratory equipment will help our frontline NHS staff to carry on with the incredible work they are doing.”

The James Hutton Institute has borrowed two QiagenQIACube sample processing units from NHS Lanarkshire and NHS Highland. They also borrowed 96-well optical reaction plates and seals for PCR tests at Edinburgh laboratories, which are used to analyze swab samples during Covid-19 tests.

The Rowett Institute loaned two real-time ThermoFisher Applied Biosystems 7500 PCRs and a QiagenQIACube sample processing unit to NHS Grampian. These machines will increase the number of tests that clinical laboratories can perform daily.

The James Hutton Institute also provides international researchers with access to the use of high-performance computing capabilities to analyze the Covid-19 DNA sequence. So far, the institute has donated masks, goggles, over 4,500 sterile gloves and over 1,000 shoe covers to the NHS Tayside.

SRUC provided equipment, oxygen and PPE to NHS Dumfries and Galloway, including 130 sterile gowns, 600 pairs of sterile gloves, 100 masks, 150 caps, 100 shoe covers, 100 aprons and 3000 test gloves.