A strategic location
To develop its service activity and R&D projects, SMALTIS was set up, since its creation, in the heart of the TEMIS Health area in Besançon, France. SMALTIS HQ are located in the West part of town in the district known as “Les Hauts du Chazal”, having as principal goal to become a National Center for Biomedical Engineering. Built around the Regional University Hospital Jean Minjoz (CHRU), the French Blood Institution (EFS) of Bourgogne Franche-Comté and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research of Besançon (INSERM), TEMIS Health is a business park specifically designed to offer exceptional setting up conditions to research-oriented enterprises such as SMALTIS.
Among them, let us quote the company Skinexigence, specialized in efficacy assessment cosmetic products and with which SMALTIS works to study skin microbiota of volunteers.
Two hundred and fifty thousand euros were invested in the purchase of technical equipment such as an inverted fluorescence microscope, a TECAN Spark 10M microplate reader, type 2 Microbiological Safety stations, a benchtop autoclave, incubators, etc., essential to perform the experiments required to the progress of research programs.
Initially located in the Bioparc building, Smaltis team moved in June 2022 to new premises in the Bio-Innovation building, at 4 rue Charles Bried.
This change, a real step forward in the life of the company, allows Smaltis to triple the surface of our laboratory, in order to follow the expansion of the health and well-being market. The total area of 650 m² regroups the office part and the BSL2 laboratory. The latter is divided into three technical platforms on which Smaltis’ services are based.
Smaltis thanks the region and the actors of the health sector, whose collaboration has allowed the existence of this building: Besançon, Ville et Communauté Urbaine , EFS, CHU de Besançon, Université de Franche-Comté and its engineering school, ISIFC, Biotika® Biomedical, their research, transfer and training institutes, PMT, and TEMIS Technopole !
Equipments
MICROBIOLOGY
› 125 m² of BSL2 laboratory
› Anaerobic workstation
› Tecan Microplate Reader
› Electroporator
› Access to a Maldi-Tof (Bruker) mass spectrometer
› Biochemical tests: Gram staining, API gallery
› Thermo-controlled climatic chambers: -80°C/-20°C
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
› 46 m² of BSL2 laboratory
› Thermal cycler 3 blocks (Biometra)
› Electrophoresis and visualization system
› Dedicated qPCR line
› qPCR devices (Biorad CFX & Qiagen Rotor-gene)
› Dedicated climatic chamber at controlled temperature
› Agilent platform & Nanodrop
CELLULAR BIOLOGY
› 32 m² of BSL2 laboratory
› Inverted fluorescence microscope
› Cell banks stored in liquid nitrogen
Internal capabilities
MICROBIOLOGY
› Characterization of microorganisms:
-Identification
-Phenotyping: morphology – physiological & metabolic traits
-Molecular genotyping
-Antibiotic resistance assessment
-Production of virulence factors measurement
> Isolation & Quantification of bacteria by culture on specific media
> Modification of bacterial genome
MOLECULAR BIOLOGY
› Preparation of biomolecular material (DNA, RNA, plasmids…)
› Amplification and detection of genomic fragments by PCR and RCA PCR
› Quantification of genomic fragments by qPCR, analysis of gene expression by RT-qPCR
› Metagenomic and metatranscriptomic studies using high-throughput sequencing
› Expression vectors construction
CELLULAR BIOLOGY
› Adhesion & invasion tests:
-Various cellular infection models: intestinal, pulmonary, macrophages, skin cells…
› Assessment of chemical or bacterial cytotoxicity
› Global cellular response:
genomic, proteomic
