MRI: Acquisition of Genomics Instrumentation at Mount Holyoke College

在莎伦·斯特兰福德博士的指导下，向曼荷莲学院提供了一笔赠款，以支持购置一套用于基因表达和调控研究中核酸定量分析的仪器。生物学已经变得非常分子化和跨学科。六名学术兴趣不同的教职员工将在他们的研究和教学中使用这些工具来探索免疫介导的胚胎发育调控、茄子果实形态发生的遗传控制、大肠杆菌RNA聚合酶的转录启动过程、DNA修复的生物物理化学、艾滋病小鼠模型中的差异基因表达，以及果蝇变态过程中基因表达的组织特异性调控。这套仪器包括一台用于大分子聚丙烯酰胺凝胶数据采集和分析的磷成像仪、一台用于记录和分析琼脂糖凝胶和斑点的CCD相机系统、一台用于监测基因表达瞬时水平的实时聚合酶链式反应系统、一台用于基因表达全局分析的微阵列扫描仪、以及一台用于对极少量核酸进行定量的光谱仪。这套基因组学仪器将显著扩展分子研究基础设施，并为生物科学、生物化学和生物物理化学领域的至少6名教师及其本科生提供严格的量化能力。这些对基因组过程的跨学科研究将鼓励学生超越传统的界限，使用他们在其他领域学到的知识，并与拥有其他专业领域的学生和教职员工讨论他们的想法和问题。这些仪器将在暑期期间由来自不同实验室的研究人员全职使用，并在学年期间在研究和教学实验室之间共享。芒特霍利奥克山由化学家玛丽·里昂于1837年创立，在科学、数学和技术的前沿教育女性方面有着一个半世纪的传统。在这种情况下，获得这些仪器将使我们机构的年轻女性和明天的科学家能够熟悉最新和最强大的基因组分析仪器。

A grant has been awarded to Mount Holyoke College under the direction of Dr. Sharon Stranford to support the acquisition of a suite of instruments for the quantitative analysis of nucleic acids in investigations concerning gene expression and regulation. Biology has become both very molecular and interdisciplinary. Six faculty members with disparate intellectual interests will use these instruments in both their research and teaching to explore immune-mediated modulation of embryonic development, genetic control of fruit morphogenesis in Solanum, transcription initiation process of E. coli RNA polymerase, biophysical chemistry of DNA repair, differential gene expression in a mouse model of AIDS, and tissue-specific regulation of gene expression during Drosophila metamorphosis. The suite of instruments includes a phosphorimager for data acquisition and analysis of large polyacrylamide gels, a CCD camera system for the documentation and analysis of agarose gels and blots, a real-time PCR system for monitoring the instantaneous level of gene expression, a microarray scanner for the global analysis of gene expression, and a spectrometer for the quantitation of very small volumes of nucleic acids. This suite of genomics instruments will significantly expand the molecular research infrastructure and provide rigorous quantitative capability for at least six faculty and their undergraduate students in the fields of biological sciences, biochemistry, and biophysical chemistry. The cross-disciplinary nature of these investigations into genomic processes will encourage students to look past traditional boundaries, use the knowledge they have learned in other areas, and discuss their ideas and questions with students and faculty who have other fields of expertise. These instruments will be used by research students from different laboratories full-time during the summer session, and will be shared between research and teaching laboratories during the academic year. Founded by chemist Mary Lyon in 1837, Mount Holyoke has a more than a century-and-a-half of tradition in educating women at the forefront of science, mathematics, and technology. Within this context, the acquisition of these instruments will enable the familiarization of the young women of our institution, and the scientists of tomorrow, with the most current and powerful instrumentation for genomic analysis.