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

富兰克林和马歇尔学院被授予激光扫描共聚焦显微镜，该显微镜将能够以传统光学显微镜无法实现的高分辨率研究细胞、组织和其他材料，从而允许研究和教学中的新问题。来自F&amp；M(生物、化学、数学和计算机科学、物理和天文学以及心理学)多个系的不同教职员工和学生，来自其他高等教育机构，包括米勒斯维尔大学和伊丽莎白镇学院，以及兰开斯特学区，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名城市高中生提供尖端研究体验。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%)和代表不足的群体的教育做出重大贡献。共焦显微镜将为本科生提供研究机会，这些本科生将研究型大学常见的技术与教师直接指导相结合，这是法学院文科教育的标志。共焦显微镜还将加强当地的研究基础设施，并增加女性和代表不足的群体对科学的参与。这种高质量、最先进的仪器将增强F&amp；M为学生提供最新培训的能力，并为培训下一代科学家提供拓展。共焦显微镜将增强许多教职员工的科学发现，他们研究从细胞过程的基本机制到生物力学、发育和认知的各种主题，从陆地和水生微生物、植物和动物，并将有助于为本科生提供高质量的研究机会。将利用共聚焦显微镜的各种能力的项目包括：植物种子形成过程中的基因表达；海马树突起的修饰；哺乳动物大脑发育的新型细胞机制；计算机模拟大脑不同区域的细胞功能；NLR参与炎症反应的蛋白质的特征；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节；以及斜纹肌肉细胞的形态。附近米勒斯维尔大学和伊丽莎白镇学院的研究重点是随着时间的推移微生物多样性的空间模式的演变，龟壳形成过程中细胞的迁移，以及水生九头蛇物种的细胞应激反应将随着显微镜的进入而得到增强，从而允许各种科学发现。

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.