MRI: Acquisition of a Spectral Confocal Microscope for multidisciplinary research and training at an undergraduate college for women

有了这笔赠款，韦尔斯利学院将购买徕卡TCS SP5 AOBS光谱共聚焦显微镜。这种仪器的影响是双重的：提高在生物科学和化学系和相关的跨学科课程的教师的研究环境，并提高学生的研究培训机会。这种显微镜允许各种各样的荧光分子的可视化，用于从细菌和酵母到整个大脑和幼苗的样品中的定位和活细胞成像研究。主要用户正在解决生物学中的核心问题：植物细胞分裂中的膜运输机制，蓝藻中的应激机制，抗菌肽的细胞摄取，行为的神经内分泌控制，成人神经发生机制以及认知和社会发展关键时期的大脑发育。这是对韦尔斯利学院研究项目和下一代本科生的关键投资。韦尔斯利在女科学家教育方面的卓有成效的记录，沿着它最近在吸引更多代表性不足的少数群体进入科学领域方面取得的进展，预示着这种工具对研究进展、研究培训和学习的持续和广泛影响。鼓励有才华的年轻妇女选择科学职业，最终将加强美国科学界的基础设施，并使我们社会的所有成员受益。 研究项目的结果将通过学生和教师的国家或区域演示以及同行评审的期刊出版物传播。

With this grant, Wellesley College is purchasing a Leica TCS SP5 AOBS Spectral Confocal Microscope. The impact of this instrumentation is two-fold: enhancing the research environment for faculty in the Biological Sciences and Chemistry Departments and related interdisciplinary programs, and enhancing research training opportunities for students. This microscope allows the visualization of a wide variety of fluorescent molecules for localization and live-cell imaging studies in samples ranging from bacteria and yeast to whole mounts of brains and seedlings. The primary users are tackling central questions in biology: membrane trafficking mechanisms in plant cell division, stress mechanisms in cyanobacteria, cellular uptake of antimicrobial peptides, neuroendocrine control of behavior, mechanisms of adult neurogenesis, and brain development during critical periods in cognitive and social development. This is a critical investment in research programs at Wellesley College and in the next generation of undergraduate students. Wellesley's productive record in the education of women scientists, along with its recent progress in attracting more underrepresented minorities to the sciences, bodes well for the sustained and broad impact of this instrumentation on research progress, research training and learning. The encouragement of talented young women to choose careers in the sciences will ultimately strengthen the infrastructure of the scientific community in the United States and yield benefits to all members of our society. Results from the research projects will be disseminated through national or regional presentations by students and faculty, and through peer-reviewed journal publications.