The University of Minnesota (U of M), Minnesota Agricultural Experiment Station (U of M MAES)/Minnesota Department of Agriculture (MDA) Containment Facility consists of a Biosafety Level 2 (BSL-2) Insect Biocontrol Facility and a Biosafety Level 3 (BSL-3) Plant Pathology Research Facility. Together the BSL-2 and BSL-3 encompass over 7,000 square feet of growth chambers, laboratory, rearing, and greenhouse space. The facilities are jointly operated by the U of M MAES and the MDA. Both of the containment facilities were inspected and approved by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Animal and Plant Health Inspection Service (APHIS) prior to opening. The containment facilities are unique in that they have complex physical, mechanical, and engineering controls, which are all designed to prevent the release of these exotic agents into the environment.BSL-2 Containment Facility:
Funded by a state bonding bill in 2000, the U of M MAES and the MDA partnered to build the BSL-2 and opened for research in May 2003. The goal of this BSL-2 facility is to provide a secure environment for research consisting of exotic insects for biological control of noxious weeds and insect pests in Minnesota.
BSL-3 Containment Facility:
Funded by a state bonding bill in 2004, the U of M MAES and the MDA partnered to build the BSL-3 and opened for research in February 2009. The BSL-3 facility provides research scientists from the U of M, MDA, USDA, US Forest Service and other organizations a secure high level containment for research on plant pathogens of agronomic and horticultural crops, nursery, and forest industries without risk of introducing the pathogens into Minnesota. The BSL-3 is unique in that only a handful of these types of facilities exist in the United States.
For more information about the BSL-2 and/or the BSL-3 Containment Facility contact a Quarantine Officer at (651) 231-8846.
