The Animal Cell Culture Lab of the Korea Institute of Ocean Science and Technology (KIOST)’s Jeju Marine Research Center was selected as an “Excellent Laboratory” by the 2022 Certification Program for Laboratories of Excellence in Safety Management conducted by the Ministry of Science and ICT (MSIT). It was also awarded a commendation from the Minister of Science and ICT during “2022 Lab Safety Week,” which was held at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) on November 21, 2022.

The 2022 Certification Program for Laboratories of Excellence in Safety Management is a system in which the MSIT grants certifications to laboratories with outstanding safety management performance for the purpose of strengthening the capabilities of universities and research institutes in laboratory safety management and discovering and promoting standards for laboratory safety.

The KIOST Jeju Research Institute’s Animal Cell Culture Lab became the first institution on Jeju Island to be certified for its excellence in safety management in 2019 and was re-certified last year.

Only eight laboratories nationwide, of which two are public institutions, were certified this year, including the Animal Cell Culture Lab and Samsung Biologics Production Technology Research Institute. All three of the Jeju Research Institute’s laboratories were granted the certification of excellence in safety management in 2019, after which one laboratory was re-certified in 2020, and all three were re-certified in 2021. The certification is thus promoting safety awareness and becoming a benchmark for universities and research institutes on Jeju Island.

The Animal Cell Culture Lab is differentiated from other laboratories in that it has carried out tasks for the development of functional materials, production of biopharmaceuticals , and integration and promotion of the carbon cycle economy through the development of ONE-STEP technology, which converges technologies and produces them in a virtuous cycle for different biotech-related fields according to the needs of the biotech industry in order to solve social problems, such as everyday health and safety issues.

Going forward, it plans to provide new solutions for the biotech industry using marine-derived raw materials by proving its excellence in the areas of greenhouse gas reduction, added value enhancement, import substitution, and promotion of various functions.

Director Kang Do-hyung of the Jeju Research Institute said, “The Animal Cell Culture Lab’s certification as a laboratory of excellence in safety and management will provide momentum to its promotion as an exemplary case to not only the KIOST headquarters and branch offices but also universities and research institutes in the Jeju area in relation to the building of a research culture with safety as the top priority.” He added, “We will continue actively supporting all laboratories at the Jeju Research Institute so that they can achieve the highest level of safety management in the field, thus securing new laboratories that excel in safety management.”