Environmental chamber assists in asthma research

Saffron Scientific Equipment has collaborated with drug discovery company Aldezon in the design, development and manufacture of an environmental chamber/glove-box for asthma research.

Forming part of the GSPK Group of companies based in North Yorkshire, UK, Saffron has supplied a bespoke environmental chamber to St George's Hospital Medical School (SGHMS), London, which is trying to develop a new medicine for asthma. One of the common triggers of allergy-based asthma reactions is the house dust mite. The mites induce allergic reactions in up to 90% of sufferers, triggering Rhinitis Allergica or Bronchial Asthma. The mites are so tiny that they are virtually invisible without magnification. SGHMS required an environmental chamber to grow house dust mites as part of its drug development programme. The chamber has been designed specifically to create and control the precise humidity that these mites thrive on and to protect the scientists whilst working with the powerful asthma-causing substances that the mites produce. Adapted from the Saffron standard Beta range style of glove-box, the chamber incorporates exacting levels of intelligence and control to maintain the high levels of accuracy required by the customer.