A Consolidated and Enhanced Molecular Biology Facility for the Whitney Marine Laboratory

惠特尼海洋实验室是佛罗里达大学的一个研究机构。它成立于1974年，致力于发挥海洋实验室的传统作用；利用海洋动物作为实验模型来解决细胞和神经生物学中的基本问题。这种特殊的海洋生物学方法已经成为佛罗里达、东南地区和全国范围内实验室的特色。1989年，实验室启动了一个分子生物学项目。事实证明，这个项目非常强大，非常受欢迎，以至于惠特尼实验室十二个常驻研究小组中有九个现在把分子克隆作为他们研究的常规组成部分。为了适应这种增长，实验室为分子生物学分配了额外的空间——目前的设施包括2.5个功能独立的房间，总面积为630平方英尺，还有一个独立的同位素实验室。然而，在特定的一天，12个人在任何一个特定的房间里争夺长凳空间，在高峰时期，游客和学生可能会把这个数字提高到20人。这种巨大的需求不可避免地带来了安排问题，最令人担忧的是，外源DNA和RNA会污染培养物和聚合酶链反应。此外，一些重要的设备已经很旧了，在许多情况下（例如，高压灭菌器、摇箱和制冰机），它们是实验室中唯一的同类设备，如果其中一个设备发生故障，整个程序很容易停止。最后，由于现有的设施分布在四个间距很大的房间中，设施的使用效率很低。为了纠正这些问题，该项目将支持一个统一的分子生物学设施，组织和装备，以便最大限度地利用和实用惠特尼实验室的常驻教师和访问的科学家和学生。这个综合设施将继续在实验室分子生物学家的熟练监督下运作。

The Whitney Marine Laboratory is a research institute of the University of Florida. It was established in 1974 and dedicated to a traditional role of marine laboratories; the use of marine animals as experimental models with which to address fundamental questions in cellular and neurobiology. This particular approach to marine biology has come to characterize the Laboratory within Florida, the Southeast region, and nationally. In 1989, the Laboratory initiated a program in molecular biology. This program proved to be enormously powerful and popular, so much so that nine of the twelve resident research groups at the Whitney Laboratory now use molecular cloning as a routine component of their research. To accommodate this growth, the Laboratory assigned additional space to molecular biology- the facilities currently consist of 21/2 functionally separate rooms, occupying a total of 630 ft2 , and a separate isotope lab. However, on given day, 12 individuals vie for bench space in any given room, and during peak times, visitors and students might raise this number to as many as 20. This heavy demand inevitably raises problems of scheduling and, most worrisome, contamination of cultures and PCR by extraneous DNA and RNA. Moreover, several essential items of equipment are already quite old, and, in many cases (e.g.,) the autoclave, shaking incubator and ice machine) they are the only item of their kind in the Laboratory, making the whole program is vulnerable to stoppage should one item break down. Finally, because the existing facilities are spread across four widely spaced rooms, the use of the facilities is inefficient. To correct these problems this project will support a consolidated molecular biology facility, organized and equipped so as to as to maximize its usage and utility to the resident faculty of the Whitney Laboratory and to visiting scientists and students. This consolidated facility would continue to operate under the skilled s upervision of the Laboratory's molecular biologist.