Institute of Life Technologies

These are the main research interests
of the Life Technologies Institute of HES-SO Valais.

With a staff of about 50 (professors, scientific and technical assistants), our research team carries out several dozen projects per year and offers a large range of quality services including analyses and consulting. Our clients are mainly MNCs and SMEs from the food, fine chemistry (pharmaceutical and cosmetics industry) and biotechnology sector. Our activities in the food sector focus on product development, the measurement of chemical, microbiological and sensorial quality of food, and the security of food and production processes. Product authenticity has become an increasingly important criterion of choice for the customer. The Institute of Life Technologies addresses this issue through the concepts of geographical origin (AOC - registered designation of origin) and biological origin.		Analytical chemistry is another area of expertise of our Institute. We apply methods for dosing and characterising compounds such as biomolecules and various chemical substances. Our activities in the biotechnical sector become increasingly important. Our new pilot plant, equipped with biofermenters of different sizes (0.2 to 300 litres), the main downstream processing unit operations and our brand new cell culture laboratory (opened in December 2006) offer interesting opportunities for collaboration with the biotech industry. Our ISO 17025 accreditation (type C) allows us to develop new measurement methods that meet the highest standards in terms of reliability and precision.