UCT BSL3 Inhalation and RNA Extraction System

The BSL3 inhalation and extraction systems allow safe aerosol infection with virulent clinical M. tuberculosis (MTB) strains in mice and safe medium-throughout RNA extraction from tissues, respectively. These systems will be integrated within a multiple instruments platform for the identification of host and pathogen candidate genes as drug targets against Tuberculosis. This state of the art system is critical for enabling murine deep lung infections with virulent clinical strains of MTB, efficient monitoring of health status of the mice and the immunological responses during infection, and sample preparation for downstream analyses.