MRI: Acquisition of a FACSMelody Flow Cytometer and Cell Sorter

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An award is made to Idaho State University to acquire a Fluorescence-Activated Cell Sorter (FACS) flow cytometer. This instrument will greatly enhance the research and educational opportunities across multiple departments and colleges at Idaho State University and at near-by undergraduate institution BYU-I. The instrument will be housed in a multi-user core facility and accessed by researchers and teachers in the Biological Sciences, Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Anthropology. Hands-on experimental design modules will be developed and utilized in various undergraduate and graduate courses, and within secondary education teacher-training courses. By incorporating this equipment into classes, students at all levels of education will gain hands-on experience in authentic research activities. This equipment will also be accessible to community partners and incorporated into university-wide outreach and STEM training activities to promote recruitment, retention, and professional development of a diverse workforce.This instrument will be utilized by a variety of researchers, from undergraduate students to professors. The ease of instrument set-up and diversity of applications across multiple disciplines will enhance current research capabilities and open opportunities for new and innovative projects. Researchers will use this machine to answer questions pertaining to 1) immune cell responses to environmental contaminants and physiologic stimuli, 2) cellular protein expression during organismal and cellular development, 3) plant genome/ploidy quantification, 4) hormone receptor expression in animal tissues, 5) gene expression in prokaryotes, 6) cell division and death, and 7) microparticle identification in archeologic samples (i.e., teeth, pottery). Many of these areas rely on the sorting functions of this machine to isolate live cells or small particles for further experimentation. Data generated using this instrument will be disseminated to the public via presentations and peer-reviewed papers, and data will impact a wide array of fields while providing cutting-edge training for students in environmental sciences, developmental biology, evolutionary biology, eukaryotic and prokaryotic cell biology, and anthropology.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.