MRI: Acquisition of a laser scanning confocal microscope to support faculty-student collaborative scholarship at a research-intensive liberal arts college

富兰克林马歇尔学院因其发明的激光扫描共聚焦显微镜而获奖，该显微镜能够以传统光学显微镜无法达到的高分辨率研究细胞、组织和其他材料，从而使研究和教学中的新问题成为可能。来自F&amp；M多个院系（生物、化学、数学和计算机科学、物理和天文学、心理学）、其他高等教育机构（包括米勒斯维尔大学和伊丽莎白镇学院）和兰开斯特学区的多元化教师和学生将使用基于激光的显微镜系统进行最先进的图像捕获和分析。除了师生合作研究项目外，共聚焦显微镜还将为每年约170名科学、技术、工程和数学（STEM）本科生和55名城市高中生组成的庞大而多样化的群体提供尖端的研究体验。学生将在从高中生物学到高级神经生物学的课程中观察和测量染色细胞或活细胞，并将研究免疫系统、癌症和发育。显微镜将对第一代大学生（约占F&amp；M学生总数的15%）和代表性不足的群体的教育做出重大贡献。共聚焦显微镜将为本科生提供研究机会，将研究型大学常见的技术与直接的教师指导结合起来，这是F&amp；M文科教育的标志。该项目还将加强当地的研究基础设施，并增加妇女和代表性不足的群体对科学的参与。这台高质量、最先进的仪器将增强F&amp；M为学生提供最新培训的能力，并为培养下一代科学家提供拓展服务。共聚焦显微镜将加强许多研究陆地和水生微生物、植物和动物等不同主题的教师的科学发现，从细胞过程的基本机制到生物力学、发育和认知，并将有助于为本科生提供高质量的研究机会。将使用共聚焦显微镜的各种功能的项目包括：参与植物种子形成的基因表达；空间使用对海马树突的影响哺乳动物脑发育的新细胞机制大脑皮层不同区域脑细胞功能的计算机模拟参与炎症的NLR蛋白的表征；心脏和骨骼发育关键蛋白质的分布；肿瘤抑制蛋白的信号调控；斜横纹肌细胞的形态。附近的米勒斯维尔大学（Millersville University）和伊丽莎白镇学院（Elizabethtown College）的研究重点是微生物多样性随时间变化的空间格局、甲壳形成过程中细胞的迁移以及水生水螅物种的细胞应激反应，这些研究将随着显微镜的使用而得到加强，从而实现多种科学发现。

An award is made to Franklin & Marshall College for a laser scanning confocal microscope that will enable the study of cells, tissues, and other materials at high resolution that cannot be achieved with traditional light microscopy, and thus allow investigation of new questions in both research and teaching. A diverse group of faculty and students from multiple departments at F&M (Biology, Chemistry, Mathematics and Computer Science, Physics and Astronomy, and Psychology), from other institutions of higher education including Millersville University and Elizabethtown College, and from the School District of Lancaster will use the laser-based microscope system for state-of-the-art image capture and analysis. In addition to student-faculty collaborative research projects, the confocal microscope will enable cutting-edge research experiences for a large and diverse group of about 170 science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) undergraduates and 55 urban high school students annually. Students will view and measure stained or living cells in courses from high school biology to advanced neurobiology and will investigate the immune system, cancer, and development. The microscope will contribute significantly to the education of first-generation college students (about 15% of F&M's student population) and underrepresented groups. The confocal microscope will provide research opportunities for undergraduates that integrate technology common at research universities with direct faculty mentoring that is the hallmark of a liberal arts education at F&M. The confocal will also enhance local research infrastructure and increase the participation of women and underrepresented groups in science. The high quality, state-of-the-art instrument will enhance F&M's ability to offer up-to-date training to students and provide outreach to train the next generation of scientists.The confocal microscope will enhance the scientific findings of many faculty who study a diverse range of topics in terrestrial and aquatic microbes, plants and animals, from fundamental mechanisms of cellular processes to biomechanics, development and cognition, and will help offer high-quality research opportunities to undergraduates. Projects that will use the range of capabilities of the confocal microscope include: gene expression involved in the formation of plant seeds; modification of hippocampal dendrites as a function of space use; novel cellular mechanisms of mammalian brain development; computer simulations of brain cell function in different regions of cortex; characterization of NLR proteins involved in inflammation; distribution of proteins critical for heart and skeletal development; signaling regulation of tumor suppressor proteins; and the morphology of obliquely striated muscle cells. Research at nearby Millersville University and Elizabethtown College focused on evolving spatial patterns of microbes diversity over time, migration of cells during turtle shell formation, and cellular stress responses of aquatic Hydra species will be enhanced with access to the microscope allowing diverse scientific discoveries.