Acquisition of a Confocal Microscope

在David J.Asai博士的指导下，哈维·马德学院获得了一笔赠款，用于购买一台共焦荧光显微镜。对生命系统的理解取决于获得四维细胞和组织图像的能力，其中第四维的时间尺度从分子反应到自然选择的进化。高分辨率共聚焦荧光显微镜是可视化细胞动力学的强大工具。在过去的十年里，这项技术已经成熟，以至于今天共焦显微镜是一种广泛应用的生物学标准工具。共享共焦显微镜设施将推进旨在可视化各种实验系统和时间尺度的动态过程的研究项目：(I)植物中冷信号响应中的膜脂；(Ii)纤毛虫原生动物中分子马达对细胞形状的控制；(Iii)伴随角膜细胞分化的细胞蛋白质的重组；(Iv)可视化组织重建的新技术的开发；以及(V)测量种群多样性和软珊瑚的进化。此外，该设施的一个关键用途将是本科教育，包括本科研究项目和细胞生物学的正式实验室课程。哈维·马德学院是一所规模较小、高度挑剔的本科院校，专注于科学、工程和数学。共聚焦显微镜将提供一个重要的新机会，让这些有才华的学生参与到生物发现的过程中来。该仪器将促进跨学科的发现和学习(五个共同的PI是生物、工程和物理)，使本科生研究(去年有28名研究生，其中16名是女性，在五个实验室)，并在共聚焦荧光显微镜下固定一个新的实验室模块。令人惊讶的是，尽管共焦显微镜现在是生物学中的标准工具，但通过这一奖项获得的共焦显微镜将是克莱蒙特学院七所学院的第一个共焦显微镜，因此将成为克莱蒙特校园内教职员工和学生的重要新资源。

A grant has been awarded to Harvey Mudd College under the direction of Dr. David J. Asai for the acquisition of a confocal fluorescence microscope. The understanding of living systems depends on the ability to obtain images of cells and tissues in four dimensions, with the timescales of the fourth dimension ranging from molecular reactions to evolution by natural selection. High-resolution confocal fluorescence microscopy is a powerful vehicle with which to visualize cellular dynamics. Over the past decade, this technology has matured so that today confocal microscopy is a widely applied standard tool of biology.The shared confocal microscope facility will advance research projects aimed at the visualization of dynamic processes in a diversity of experimental systems and timescales: (i) membrane lipids in the cold signaling response in plants; (ii) control of cell shape by molecular motors in ciliated protozoa; (iii) reorganization of cellular proteins that accompanies the differentiation of corneal cells; (iv) development of new technologies to visualize tissue remodeling; and (v) measurement of population diversity and evolution of soft corals. Further, a key use of the facility will be in undergraduate education, including undergraduate research projects and a formal laboratory course in cell biology.Harvey Mudd College is a small, highly selective, undergraduate institution that focuses on science, engineering, and mathematics. The confocal microscope will present an important new opportunity to engage these talented students in the process of biological discovery. The instrument will facilitate interdisciplinary discovery and learning (the five co-PIs are in Biology, Engineering, and Physics), enable undergraduate research (last year there were 28 research students, of whom 16 are women, in the five laboratories), and anchor a new laboratory module in confocal fluorescence microscopy. Surprisingly, despite the fact that confocal microscopy is now a standard tool in biology, the confocal microscope acquired through this award will be the first confocal microscope on the seven Claremont Colleges, and will thus represent an important new resource for faculty and students across the Claremont campuses.