Autoclave supporting molecular biology

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This is an application for an autoclave, to be installed on the 6th floor of the Biological Sciences Building at the University of Alberta. This autoclave will be the primary autoclave facility for four highly successful research groups working on different aspects of animal biology. This research includes structure/function analysis of voltage-gated potassium channels and serotonin receptors, the physiological interactions between ticks and their hosts, the structure and evolution of natural populations of a wide variety of animals, and the developmental biology of some of the most basal marine animals. These studies are informing 1) our basic understanding of the mechanisms of nerve impulse transmission and responses to serotonin levels that provide a basis for rational design of highly specific drugs and pesticides, 2) our understanding of how ticks that carry human and animal pathogens interact with the host during the feeding phase, thus identifying a window of opportunity for intervening in disease transmission, 3) our understanding of how human activities and natural events affect animal populations, and how current populations of animals have evolved and 4) how the most basic mechanisms of development of the body and nervous system of multicellular animals has evolved. All of these research activities depend on availability of a reliable autoclave. All three research efforts use molecular biological techniques extensively, which is critically dependent on the ability to produce sterile media, solutions, and equipment and to decontaminate bacterial and cell cultures at the end of experiments. We also must be able to autoclave a variety of animal tissues to ensure that any zoonoses are inactivated prior to disposal. The unit that is currently installed has been used constantly for 15 years and has nearly reached the end of its useful lifetime. Parts are no longer available and so repairs are becoming more and more difficult.