{"id":2301,"date":"2012-01-31T12:10:46","date_gmt":"2012-01-31T17:10:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/?p=2301"},"modified":"2012-04-02T11:44:18","modified_gmt":"2012-04-02T15:44:18","slug":"a-peek-inside-the-bu-biolab","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/2012\/01\/a-peek-inside-the-bu-biolab\/","title":{"rendered":"A peek inside the BU biolab"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By Michael Naughton (From <a href=\"http:\/\/www.metro.us\/boston\/local\/article\/1068292--a-peek-inside-the-bu-biolab\">Metro<\/a>), January 10, 2012<\/p>\n<p>The Boston University biolab has been causing nerves to shake ever  since plans to construct the South End facility were announced.<\/p>\n<p>Now, as some research is set to begin at the $200 million lab, officials  are attempting to soothe the nerves by offering a glimpse inside the  facility.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe folks that have been through it \u2026 have seen the safety measures in  place and they are second to none,\u201d said Mayor Thomas Menino after  taking a tour of the facility with the media and some members of the  public yesterday. \u201cWe have to educate folks in the neighborhoods that  this is good for the city.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>State officials gave permission for the center to begin low-level  biosafety research in the facility starting this year. Diseases that  fall in to that category include strains of tuberculosis, the Dengue  virus and measles.<\/p>\n<p>However, research on the deadliest diseases has not yet been approved.<\/p>\n<p>During yesterday\u2019s tour, lab heads touted ventilation systems, $2,600  protective space suits, retina scanners and other safety and security  measures to address concerns that have been voiced by the public.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"\/neidl\/files\/2012\/01\/6a74a87846d1981a78486190ae18.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone size-full wp-image-2302\" title=\"6a74a87846d1981a78486190ae18\" src=\"\/neidl\/files\/2012\/01\/6a74a87846d1981a78486190ae18.jpg\" alt=\"6a74a87846d1981a78486190ae18\" width=\"400\" height=\"300\" \/><\/a><br style=\"clear: both;\" \/><br style=\"clear: both;\" \/>Before researchers enter a level 4 lab, they will have to put on a  $2,600 protective suit. When they exit the lab, they will first have to  take a 7-minute decontamination shower.<br \/>\nJohn Murphy, interim director of the center, said that the facility will  not only create jobs and provide an economic impact for the city, but  it will also help researchers better understand deadly diseases and  viruses and in turn better protect public health.<\/p>\n<p><strong>The what ifs<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Because of concerns, Susan Sullivan, the executive director of the  Newmarket Business Association, participated in yesterday\u2019s tour of the  facility. She said there will always be a concern, but that the safety  measures provide some relief.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe all believe that, always in the back of our head, the what ifs. But  after [the tour], the what ifs are so minimal,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Michael Naughton (From Metro), January 10, 2012 The Boston&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":976,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":[],"categories":[1298],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2301"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/976"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2301"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2301\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2587,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2301\/revisions\/2587"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2301"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2301"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/neidl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2301"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}