Berry College MRI: Aquisition of a Flex Real-Time PCR System for Undergraduate Research and Teaching

贝里学院获得了一个奖项，通过收购应用生物系统公司QuantStudio 7 Flex实时PCR系统来提高教师的研究效率，并加强本科生的研究和教学。在三年的资助期内，QuantStudio 7将使教师能够聘请约77名本科生研究助理和312名本科生参与课程，教授他们现代分子技术，并为他们的研究生学习和科学事业做好全面准备。该仪器将为开展新的实验室练习和参与各种课程的课堂研究创造机会，包括分子生物学、发育生物学、家养动物遗传学、染色质、表观遗传学和基因表达。QuantStudio 7还将促进贝瑞和其他机构之间的合作，包括道尔顿州立学院（道尔顿州立学院）和科罗拉多州立大学。在与Armuchee高中（服务于不同经济背景的学生）和乔治亚州州长荣誉计划（一个在贝里校园举办的夏季项目，服务于来自不同背景的乔治亚州顶尖理科学生）的合作中，贝里将为大约348名高中生提供早期接触分子研究仪器和方法的机会，这将有助于建立他们对追求STEM专业和职业的能力的信心。考虑到Berry使用QuantStudio 7的活动的影响，以及乔治亚州西北部地区共享用户计划的研究和培训，该工具将在培养合格的STEM工人方面发挥作用，该州需要满足预计的STEM就业增长。它还将进一步推进贝瑞的战略目标，培养那些“为生活做好准备”的研究生，通过将严谨的学术学习与有意义的应用学习经验和服务的心相结合，准备成为改进的代理人。QuantStudio 7将促进和促进OneHealth的研究方法，即医生、兽医、流行病学家、生态学家、气候学家、医学研究人员和许多其他专业之间的跨学科合作，根据所研究的具体问题。在不久的将来，QuantStudio 7将把该项目的四个pi聚集在一起，组成一个多元化的小组，其中包括三名早期职业调查员和其他教员，他们共同研究珊瑚礁生态系统健康、野生动物和驯养动物健康，以及与人类健康相关的寄生虫。随着现代实时PCR系统的使用，pi的研究将促进对广泛分子机制的理解。具体来说，pi将使用该仪器研究刺针生物中潜在的免疫基因和内分泌干扰，以更好地了解这些生物如何应对不断变化的环境；为农业和野生动物保护开发一种理想的冷冻保存山羊和鹿的卵子、精子和胚胎的方法；并确定基因变异如何影响早期妊娠，从而促进基因选择程序，以提高奶牛的生育能力。pi将通过向同行评议的期刊提交论文和在国家和国际会议上发表演讲来传播他们的研究成果。总体而言，QuantStudio 7的强大功能将推动未来对人类、动物和环境健康之间相互联系的研究。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

An award is made to Berry College to increase the research productivity of faculty and enhance undergraduate research and teaching through the acquisition of an Applied Biosystems QuantStudio 7 Flex Real-Time PCR system. Over the three-year grant period, the QuantStudio 7 will enable faculty to engage an estimated 77 undergraduate research assistants and 312 undergraduates in coursework, teaching them modern molecular techniques and comprehensively preparing them for graduate school and careers in science. This instrument will create opportunities for undertaking new laboratory exercises and engaging in research within the classroom in a diverse set of courses, including Molecular Biology, Developmental Biology, Genetics of Domesticated Animals, and Chromatin, Epigenetics, and Gene Expression. The QuantStudio 7 will also facilitate partnerships between Berry and other institutions, including Dalton State College (an HSI) and Colorado State University. In partnership with Armuchee High School (serving economically diverse students) and the Georgia Governor's Honors Program (a summer program held on the Berry campus that serves Georgia's top science students from diverse backgrounds), Berry will provide an estimated 348 high school students with early exposure to molecular research instrumentation and methods, which will help build their confidence in their ability to pursue STEM majors and careers. Given the impact of Berry's activities using the QuantStudio 7, as well as the research and training planned by shared users in the Northwest Georgia region, this instrument will play a role in producing the qualified STEM workers the state needs to meet projected STEM employment growth. It will also further Berry's strategic goal to graduate students who are "life ready" prepared to be agents of improvement through the integration of rigorous academic learning with meaningful applied learning experiences and a heart for service. The QuantStudio 7 will foster and facilitate the OneHealth approach to research, i.e., transdisciplinary collaborations between physicians, veterinarians, epidemiologists, ecologists, climatologists, medical researchers, and numerous other specialties, as dictated by the specific problem being studied. In the immediate future, the QuantStudio 7 will bring together the project's four PIs a diverse group that includes three early-career investigators and other faculty who collectively are studying coral reef ecosystem health, wildlife and domesticated animal health, and parasites related to human health. With access to a modern real-time PCR system, the PIs' research will advance understanding of a broad spectrum of molecular mechanisms. Specifically, the PIs will use the instrument to study potential immune genes and endocrine disruption in cnidarians to better understand how these organisms respond to a changing environment; develop an ideal method for cryopreserving eggs, sperm, and embryos of goat and deer species for agricultural purposes and wildlife conservation; and determine how genetic variants affect early pregnancy and thus facilitate genetic selection programs to improve cow fertility. The PIs will disseminate their research findings through submission of papers to peer-reviewed journals and presentations at national and international meetings. Overall, the QuantStudio 7's robust capabilities will advance future investigations in interconnections between human, animal, and environmental health.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.