Skip to main content
Ingenium Logo

You are leaving IngeniumCanada.org

✖


This link leads to an external website that Ingenium does not control. Please read the third-party’s privacy policies before entering personal information or conducting a transaction on their site.

Have questions? Review our Privacy Statement

Vous quittez IngeniumCanada.org

✖


Ce lien mène à un site Web externe qu'Ingenium ne contrôle pas. Veuillez lire les politiques de confidentialité des tiers avant de partager des renseignements personnels ou d'effectuer une transaction sur leur site.

Questions? Consultez notre Énoncé de confidentialité

Ingenium The Channel

Langue

  • Français
Search Toggle

Menu des liens rapides

  • Ingenium Locations
  • Shop
  • Donate
  • Join
Menu

Main Navigation

  • Browse
    • Categories
    • Media Types
    • Boards
    • Featured Stories
  • About
    • About The Channel
    • Content Partners

From mobile labs to Ebola vaccines: How the National Microbiology Laboratory did it all

This article was originally written and submitted as part of a Canada 150 Project, the Innovation Storybook, to crowdsource stories of Canadian innovation with partners across Canada. The content has since been migrated to Ingenium’s Channel, a digital hub featuring curated content related to science, technology and innovation.

Share
Apr 16, 2017
Categories
Medicine
Categories
Sciences
Media
Article
Profile picture for user Curious Canada
By: Curious Canada
From mobile labs to Ebola vaccines: How the National Microbiology Laboratory did it all

In 2001 suspicious mail showed up in New Brunswick. People feared that it may have been laced with anthrax like the letters being sent to congressional offices in the USA at the time.

No one wanted to move the mail all the way to the National Microbiology Laboratory in Winnipeg, so scientists had to rush out with all their equipment on hand. NML took inspiration from this and considered a solution that had equipment on-the-go. Analyzing a sample takes long enough as it is, and having to move the sample to a lab just makes things needlessly difficult. So, they decided to make the world’s first mobile lab.

The NML is a world leader in microbiology and crucial to the progress of medicine. They study some of the most lethal infectious organisms and are one of few labs worldwide that has four laboratories. Their venture into mobile research allows for them to set up shop wherever they’re called. This lets them do tests immediately and shorten wait times significantly. Remote locations really benefit from this because of their distance from laboratories.

Mobile labs as a concept is spreading worldwide. They were a great help in 2002 when diagnosing cases of Ebola in Western Africa. The symptoms of Ebola are very similar to malaria, so being able to do tests on site allowed cases of Ebola to be diagnosed more easily. That way people that tested positive for the disease could be quarantined to prevent further propagation.

An Ebola vaccine is also in development at the NML. It works by transplanting a strand of Ebola into a virus that typically infects cows. Then the virus is then put into a person so their immune system responds accordingly and mounts the proper defences to fight off the disease. The vaccine is still in its infancy and so far only works on monkeys.

However, the NML were able to create a mixture of drugs called Zmapp. It’s a combination of three antibodies, two of which were made domestically and one made at the US Army Institute for Infectious Disease Research. While still in testing phases it has shown some moderate success. The most famous of these cases was with an American doctor and nurse who contracted Ebola in Sierra Leone. Zmapp successfully cured them of the disease.

Treating such an infectious disease isn’t easy. The National Microbiology Laboratory’s methods of eradicating Ebola are still developing, but their dedication to fighting the disease can’t be argued against. Mobile Labs have also lessened the burden of diagnosing Ebola, other diseases and issues of security by making equipment more accessible in order to get accurate results faster.

By Jassi Bedi

Tags
Innovation Storybook
Author(s)
Profile picture for user Curious Canada
Curious Canada

Related Stories

The main protagonists of the University Crisis of 1919. Anon., “Professors Asked To Resign From University.” The Saskatoon Daily Star, 28 July 1919, 3.

“Is This Prophetic of Future?”: University of Saskatchewan professor Robert Dawson MacLaurin and the billowing saga of straw gas, part 3

The straw-gas powered McLaughlin D45 touring automobile with its gas bag, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. Anon., “Is This Prophetic of Future? Auto Is Run With Straw Gas.” The Winnipeg Evening Tribune, 20 August 1918, 1.

“Is This Prophetic of Future?”: University of Saskatchewan professor Robert Dawson MacLaurin and the billowing saga of straw gas, part 2

The illustration which brought the straw gas production project of University of Saskatchewan professor Robert Dawson MacLaurin to the attention of many. Anon., “Straw Gas Here: Novel Motor Fuel Used to Save Gasoline.” Visalia Morning Delta, 15 November 1918, 6.

“Is This Prophetic of Future?”: University of Saskatchewan professor Robert Dawson MacLaurin and the billowing saga of straw gas, part 1

Caricature by illustrator / graphic designer Jacques Gagnier promoting the weekly Québec radio game show Auto-Tram broadcasted by the radio station CKAC of Montréal, Québec. Jacques Gagnier, “–.” RadioMonde, 27 November 1948, 18.

Auto-Tram, Pic et pic et colégram, Bour et bour et ratatam, Auto-Tram: Do you want to participate with me in the weekly Québec radio game show Auto-Tram?

The left-hand photo shows several square bins lined with clear plastic, full of bunches of purple grapes, with rows of grape vines visible in the background. The right-hand photo shows a cathode ray tube computer terminal and small keyboard. The computer has yellow plastic housing and black plastic frame. The keyboard is grey. To the right in this photo is a conservation photography colour correction card.

2 things you should know about how grape diversity could help save winemaking in Canada and how conservators use an x-ray fluorescence spectrometer to uncover and analyze the materials in the collection's artifacts

Advertisement of Campbell Motors Limited of Vancouver, British Columbia, promoting the AZNP Škoda 1101 or 1102 automobile. Anon., “Campbell Motors Limited.” The Vancouver Sun, 10 June 1950, 11.

“Reds Carry Cold War to North Americans:” A brief roadmap of the circumstances surrounding the importation of Czechoslovakian automobiles into Canada at the height of the Cold War, part 2

Three smiling children stand on a green lawn. On the far left is a young girl with short brown hair who wears a light pink dress. In the middle, a taller boy wears a scouting uniform. On the right, a young child wears a formal blue coat as well as a white hat, gloves, and purse.

Scouting and Guiding on Overseas RCAF Bases During the Cold War

Woman

Celebrating Women’s History Month in Canada with Dr. Shohini Ghose, Quantum Physicist

An advertisement of the Czechoslovakian foreign trade company Omnitrade Limited of Montréal, Québec, for the AZNP Škoda 440 automobile. Anon., “Omnitrade Limited.” The Montreal Star, 28 November 1958, 24.

“Reds Carry Cold War to North Americans:” A brief roadmap of the circumstances surrounding the importation of Czechoslovakian automobiles into Canada at the height of the Cold War, part 1

Map of the Caribbean with indicators highlighting the countries of Jamaica, Barbados, Grenada, Guyana, St. Vincent and the Grenadines, St. Lucia, and Trinidad and Tobago.

‘It is all up to you!’ – The West Indian Domestic Scheme in Canada (1955–1967)

The Constantin proof of concept wind turbine, Roanne, France. Jean Labadié, “Le vent source d’énergie inépuisable. » La Science et la Vie, June 1927, 491.

“Here’s good wind, here’s pretty wind:” A whirlwind overview of the fascinating wind turbine of French engineer Louis Constantin, and of a few other things besides that, part 2

Louis Constantin’s wind turbine prototype, in the South of France, circa 1928. Jean Labadié, “L’œuvre originale d’un aérodynamicien français – Girouettes stabilisatrices et turbines éoliennes.” Science et Monde, 5 October 1933, 639.

“Here’s good wind, here’s pretty wind:” A whirlwind overview of the fascinating wind turbine of French engineer Louis Constantin, and of a few other things besides that, part 1

Footer

About The Channel

The Channel

Contact Us

Ingenium
P.O. Box 9724, Station T
Ottawa ON K1G 5A3
Canada

613-991-3044
1-866-442-4416
contact@IngeniumCanada.org
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Channel

    • Channel Home
    • About the Channel
    • Content Partners
  • Visit

    • Online Resources for Science at Home
    • Canada Agriculture and Food Museum
    • Canada Aviation and Space Museum
    • Canada Science and Technology Museum
    • Ingenium Centre
  • Ingenium

    • Ingenium Home
    • About Ingenium
    • The Foundation
  • For Media

    • Newsroom
    • Awards

Connect with us

Subscribe to our newsletter to receive the latest Ingenium news straight to your inbox!

Sign Up

Legal Bits

Ingenium Privacy Statement

© 2023 Ingenium

Symbol of the Government of Canada
  • Browse
    • Categories
    • Media Types
    • Boards
    • Featured Stories
  • About
    • About The Channel
    • Content Partners