Molecular Biology

蒙乃尔研究人员的主要专业知识范围广泛：分析化学与化学生态学（Kimball，Smith和Prefi博士），生物化学和生物物理学（Brand和Margolskee博士），分子和细胞生物学（黄，马戈尔斯基和王博士），遗传学和神经科学（Bachmanov，Beauchamp，Gelperin，Lowe，Reed，Reisert，Tornut和Yamazki博士），内分泌学和生理学心理物理学（布雷斯林、道尔顿、伦德斯特罗姆、门内拉、佩尔查特和怀斯），以及临床研究（考沃特和特夫）。这些实验室中有许多缺乏分子生物学方面的初级专业知识，但仍希望在其研究中利用分子生物学技术。雇佣分子技术熟练的技术人员或博士后可以满足这些需求，但是考虑到在化学意义上的许多问题上都有多种技术，雇佣单独的实验室成员来解决每种所需的技术是不切实际的。此外，将产生模式生物所需的所有分子生物学步骤外包出去将是相当昂贵的。Monell更常见的解决方案是与具有分子生物学专业知识的同事合作。事实上，合作在Monell非常普遍，并且考虑到该中心对化学感官的关注，相互的兴趣也很频繁。然而，我们的努力往往 分子生物学家已经完全致力于其他项目。因此，拥有一个分子生物学核心，根据需要提供这些专业服务，并培训这些技术的工作人员，将满足我们许多实验室的持续需求。 该核心将提供多个分子生物学技术的中心经验资源，这些技术在每个单独的实验室中复制效率低下，特别是那些分子生物学不是主要重点的实验室。此外，集中采购分子生物学所需的试剂和设备比由几个实验室多次独立采购更具成本效益。考虑到转基因和基因敲除小鼠工作的昂贵和严格的性质，重要的是要准确有效地完成产生工程模型生物体的步骤。该核心将使没有分子生物学先验知识或专业知识的PI能够在专家的帮助下在合理的时间内以合理的成本生产转基因动物模型和细胞系。 在Monell现有的26个教师研究小组中，22个（85%）将受益于该核心提供的分子方法。在我们的研究基地的13个R01赠款中，10个（77%）将使用核心将提供的分子方法和服务。核心服务的可用性将参与实验室的能力扩展到了每个实验室自身能力的范围之外。

The primary expertise of Monell investigators ranges broadly: analytical chemistry and chemical ecology (Drs. Kimball, Smith, and Prefi), biochemistry and biophysics (Drs. Brand and Margolskee), molecular and cellular biology (Drs. Huang, Margolskee, and Wang), genetics and neuroscience (Drs. Bachmanov, Beauchamp, Gelperin, Lowe, Reed, Reisert, Tordoff, and Yamazki), endocrinology and physiology (Drs. Friedman, Margolskee, Teff, Wysocki, and Zhao), psychophysics (Drs. Breslin, Dalton, Lundstrom, Mennella, Pelchat, and Wise), and clinical research (Drs. Cowart and Teff). Many of these laboratories lack primary expertise in molecular biology but still wish to utilize molecular biological techniques in their research. Hiring molecularly skilled technical staff or postdocs can address these needs, but given the multiple techniques brought to bear on many problems in the chemical senses, it is not practical to hire individual lab members to address each needed technique. Also, it would be quite costly to contract out all the molecular biological steps needed to generate a model organism. A more common solution at Monell is to enter into collaborations with colleagues that have molecular biology expertise. Indeed, collaborations are very common at Monell, and given the Center's focus on chemical senses, mutual interest is frequent. However, often the efforts of our molecular biologists are already fully committed to other projects. Thus, having a Molecular Biology Core to provide these specialized services on an as-needed basis and to train staff in such techniques will address ongoing needs in many of our laboratories. This Core will provide a central resource of experience in multiple molecular biological techniques that would be inefficient to replicate in each individual laboratory, especially those for which molecular biology is not a primary focus. In addition, centralized purchasing of the reagents and equipment needed for molecular biology is more cost-effective than multiple independent purchases by several labs. Given the costly and exacting nature of work with transgenic and knockout mice, it is important that the steps to generate engineered model organisms be done accurately and efficiently. This Core will enable PIs with no prior knowledge or expertise in molecular biology to produce genetically modified animal models and cell lines with expert assistance in reasonable time and for a reasonable cost. Of the 26 current Faculty research groups at Monell, 22 (85%) will benefit from the molecular approaches provided by this Core. Of the 13 R01 grants in our Research Base, 10 (77%)) will use the molecular approaches and services the Core will provide. The availability of Core services extends the capabilities of the participating laboratories beyond the nidus of each laboratory's own capabilities.