Microscopy and Imaging Center

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This Biological Facilities Center proposal requests funds to establish a Microscopy and Imaging Center to meet the research needs of investigators in the Life Sciences. The present Electron Microscopy Laboratory will be incorporated into the Center, and it will be expanded by adding a high.resolution electron microscope and a research quality light microscope. Both will have TV cameras connected directly to an image processing computer. The instrumentation will be designed to facilitate a number of new and important techniques including the examination of frozen.hydrated specimens, very low contrast specimens, dose.sensitive specimens, "thick" sections, and low intensity fluorescent specimens. The on.line computer will offer image processing software for both light and electron microscopical applications. Other computer operations will include 2D gel analysis and 3D molecular modeling. The instruments will benefit six primary users and eighteen secondary users, representing the Departments of Botany, Biochemistry, Microbiology, Veterinary and Animal Sciences, and Zoology, as well as two of the neighboring private colleges, Amherst and Mount Holyoke. Collaboration across disciplines are already in progress. A major goal of the Microscopy Center will be to foster further collaborative efforts by acting as a focus for the exchange of ideas and information. The Center will collect and disseminate information on methods through workshops and written manuals. The Center staff will keep abreast of developments in computer image processing and make them available to users. Training courses for beginners, workshops in specialized fields, and informational seminars by users and visitors will be provided.