Urgent replacement of real-time PCR machine

我们请求资金用于紧急更换一台实时PCR机，这对申请人的各种研究项目至关重要，他们是UBC动物学系比较动物生理小组的成员。实时定量PCR是核酸靶点检测和定量的金标准，是分子生理学的关键技术。所要求的实时PCR机支持广泛的应用，包括定量评估mRNA， microRNA和非编码RNA在组织中的水平，基因组DNA的单核苷酸多态性（snp）的基因分型，以及通过高分辨率融化曲线分析鉴定DNA序列的其他变异。我们目前的实时PCR机器是大约10年前在之前的NSERC RTI上购买的，现在开始出现故障，去年需要进行大规模维修，并且已经停止服务很长一段时间，这导致了申请人的研究计划的延误。更换这台仪器对于确保我们研究项目的连续性和我们众多学员的进步至关重要。申请人团队代表了新兴和成熟研究人员的混合，性别代表性均衡。这些团队在高影响力的研究方面有着出色的记录，在顶级期刊如《细胞》、《自然》、《分子生物学与进化》、《分子生态学》和《英国皇家学会会刊》上发表了论文。总的来说，他们的工作涉及动物适应不断变化的环境，包括鱼类、昆虫和海洋无脊椎动物等各种分类群。他们的工作广泛依赖于实时PCR，因此该仪器将被申请人大量使用。它还将提供给更广泛的比较动物生理学小组，其中包括10多个活跃的研究小组，以及该部门和UBC校园的其他用户使用。根据过去的使用情况，这种替代仪器将几乎连续地被多组学员使用，预计在未来十年至少有100名学员（包括本科生、研究生和博士后）实际使用。实时PCR训练是培养分子生理学技能的基础。我们集团在这一领域的实践培训方面有着良好的成功记录，并特别注重在我们的培训计划中增加公平性、多样性和包容性。实时PCR机在这方面至关重要，因为所有级别的学员都可以使用实时PCR，因此使用该仪器的项目通常为来自代表性不足群体的学生提供关键的“第一次研究介绍”。通过这种培训和使用这种工具所获得的技能，对于学术界、工业界、政府和非营利部门的一系列雇主来说都是非常可取的。

We request funds for the urgent replacement of a real-time PCR machine that is critical to the diverse research programs of the applicants, who are members of the Comparative Animal Physiology group in the Department of Zoology at UBC. Real-time quantitative PCR is the gold standard for the detection and quantification of nucleic acid targets and is a key technique in molecular physiology. The requested real-time PCR machine supports a wide range of applications including quantitative assessment of mRNA, microRNA and non-coding RNA levels in tissues, genotyping of genomic DNA for single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs), and identification of other variations in DNA sequences through high resolution melt-curve analysis. Our current real-time PCR machine, purchased ~10 years ago on a prior NSERC RTI, is now starting to fail and in the last year has required extensive repairs and has been out of service for long periods, which has caused delays in the research programs of the applicants. Replacing this instrument is essential to ensuring continuity in our research programs and the progress of our many trainees. The applicant team represents a mix of emerging and established researchers with balanced gender representation. These teams have an outstanding track record of high impact research, with publications in top tier journals such as Cell, Nature, Molecular Biology and Evolution, Molecular Ecology, and the Proceedings of the Royal Society. Collectively, their work addresses the adaptations of animals to a changing environment across a diverse range of taxa including fishes, insects, and marine invertebrates. Their work relies extensively on real-time PCR, and thus this instrument will be heavily used by the applicants. It will also be made available for use by the broader comparative animal physiology group, which includes more than 10 active research groups, as well as by other users in the Department and from across the UBC campus. Based upon past utilization, this replacement instrument will be used nearly continuously by trainees in multiple groups, with anticipated hands-on usage by at least 100 trainees (including undergraduates, graduate students & post-docs) over the next decade. Training in real-time PCR foundational for development of skills in molecular physiology. Our group has a strong record of success in hands-on training in this area, and has a particular focus on increasing equity, diversity, and inclusion in our training programs. The real-time PCR machine is critical in this respect as the use of real-time PCR is accessible to trainees at all levels, and thus projects using this instrument often provide the critical "first introduction to research" for students from under-represented groups. The skills acquired through this training and through the use of this instrument are highly desirable to a range of employers in academia, industry, government, and the non-profit sector.