Multilabel microplate reader

我们的研究计划的首要目标是开发早期预警标志物，用于测量环境污染物对生态系统健康的不利影响。仅高于背景水平的环境暴露很少会导致可观察到的直接影响。生物功能的缓慢、隐蔽的变化，反映了健康的下降，更为常见。在过去的五年里，我们一直在开发、评估和验证野生动物和人类大脑和血液中的一些化学物质的使用，这些化学物质可用于指示汞等环境污染物的毒性。拟议的仪器将使我们能够使用最先进的技术准确和快速地测量这些化学品的数量和活性。 它将使我们能够使用非常有限的样本来测量多种化学物质，例如北极熊和白鲸的脑组织以及不到1 mL的人类血液。该大学的学生和合作者也将受益于提高他们的工作效率，减少实验中放射性材料的使用。

The over arching goal of our research program is to develop early warning markers for measuring adverse effects of environmental contaminants on ecosystem health. Environmental exposure just above background levels rarely leads to observable immediate effects. Slow, insidious changes in biological functions, reflecting diminished wellbeing, are more common. We have spent the last five years developing, evaluating and validating the use of a number of chemicals in the brain and blood of wildlife and humans that can be used for indicators of toxicity of environmental pollutants such as mercury. The proposed instrument will allow us to measure the quantity and acitivities of these chemicals accurately and rapidly using the state-of-the-art technology.  It will allow us to measure multiple chemicals using very limited amount of samples such as brain tissues from polar bear and beluga whales as well as less than 1 mL of human blood. Students and collaborators at the university will also benefit by improving their working efficiency and cut down the use of radioactive materials for their experiment.