Thermal cycler and microcentrifuge for genetic characterization

从野生动植物中获取遗传数据是生物科学广泛应用的核心。 在我的实验室里，我和我的学生在两个主要研究领域使用植物的遗传数据。 其中第一个是入侵物种的研究;我们正在使用遗传数据来跟踪个人和种群的移动，并寻找迁移到新环境中的种群的本地适应证据。 我们的第二个主要研究领域是加拿大特有的受威胁或濒危植物的保护遗传学。 保护遗传学帮助我们管理受威胁的种群，为我们提供有关哪些种群可能面临最大风险的信息（例如，遗传多样性水平低的种群），以及哪些种群可能在移植实验中提供合适的供体。 为了获得研究所需的基因数据，我需要一台热循环仪。 这可以说是分子生物学中最重要的设备，因为它允许研究人员从少量的起始材料中扩增DNA的目标区域。 随后对这些扩增区域的表征提供了个体植物和动物的遗传信息，这反过来又使研究人员能够量化遗传多样性和种群连通性等参数。 NSERC资助购买热循环仪将大大提高我实验室的研究水平，并使我和我的学生能够针对更广泛的物种，这些物种要么通过入侵行为造成问题，要么需要种群管理，如果他们想要避免灭绝。

Obtaining genetic data from plants and animals collected in the wild is central to a wide range of applications within biological sciences.  In my lab, my students and I use genetic data from plants in two main areas of research.  The first of these is the study of invasive species; we are using genetic data to track the movements of individuals and populations, and to look for evidence of local adaptation in populations that are moving into new environments.  Our second main area of research is the conservation genetics of threatened or endangered plants that are endemic to Canada.  Conservation genetics helps us to manage threatened populations by providing us with information on which populations may be most at risk (e.g. those with low levels of genetic diversity), and which populations may provide suitable donors in transplantation experiments.   In order to obtain the genetic data necessary to my research, I require a thermal cycler in my lab.  This is arguably the most important piece of equipment in molecular biology, because it allows researchers to amplify target regions of DNA from small amounts of starting material.  The subsequent characterization of these amplified regions provides genetic information on individual plants and animals, which in turn allows researchers to quantify parameters such as genetic diversity and the connectivity of populations.  NSERC funding for the purchase of a thermal cycler will greatly increase the level of research in my lab, and allow my students and me to target a wider range of species that are either causing problems through their invasive behaviour, or need population management if they are to avoid extinction.