Or more specifically: Let there be synchrotron light!
The BioBusiness Alliance of Minnesota’s recent cooperation agreement with Canadian Light Source (CLS) could provide local researchers and medical device and pharmaceutical firms access to next-generation imaging technology.
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Under the deal, Minnesota companies and institutions can use Canada’s national synchrotron research facility at the University of Saskatchewan in Saskatoon at discounted rates.
Synchroton light is the radiation atomic particles emit when accelerated by powerful magnets in a curved trajectory at velocities approaching the speed of light. The special light boasts two distinct properties: Its brightness and intensity is far superior than traditional light sources. Scientists can also tune synchrotron light, which flows continuously across the spectrum, to any wavelength.
As a result, scientists can use synchrotron energy to create clear, detailed images of structures at subatomic, nanometer levels, capabilities well beyond the reach of traditional X-rays, magnetic resonance imaging and computer topography scans. (One nanometer equals 1/10,000 the width of a single strand of human hair).
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A medical device maker can use the light to stress test designs for ultra-thin lead wires that connect a pulse generator to the human heart. Pharma firms can identify proteins, like antibodies, to develop new vaccines or reduce a drug’s side effects by tracking how molecules interact with individual cells.
Currently, there are about 40 synchrotron light sources in the world, including the CLS facility. The United States boasts four facilities: Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory in California, Argonne National Laboratory in Illinois, Brookhaven National Laboratory in New York and Stanford University in California.
The facilities are expensive (the Brookhaven lab alone cost just under $1 billion) and enormous, usually the size of a football field, with powerful magnets pushing the particles along large storage rings where they circulate for hours. In some ways, the design and concept are similar to the European Nuclear Research (CERN) project outside of Geneva, Switzerland.
The BioBusiness Alliance and CLS hope to start pitching Minnesota companies and institutions in August.
