Versatile and quantitative analysis of macromolecules

复杂的生物体是由细胞组成的，这些细胞是以协调方式完成器官(如心、脑、肾、肺等)的特殊功能的小功能单位。我们团队的开创性研究旨在增加对细胞功能基础过程的了解。这一点很重要，这样才能理解我们身体的各个部分是如何从受孕中正常发育并在我们的一生中准确地工作的；单个细胞的失败可能会导致整个有机体的问题。我们的努力还通过在知识经济中培训和持续雇用高素质人员(HQP)来促进加拿大基础和应用研究的发展。通过我们的研究项目获得的信息还加强了加拿大大学生命科学课程的教育，从而进一步促进了新一代HQP的培训，他们将在细胞生物学以外的广泛学科工作，如农学、生物工程和人类健康。 细胞生物学研究需要检测和分析细胞成分，包括DNA、RNA和蛋白质。对越来越小和多样化的样品进行定量分析的需求推动了灵敏度和通用性大大提高的探测器的发展，从而使像我们这样的研究小组需要取代缺乏竞争力的数字或摄影技术。目前的应用不仅旨在取代这些过时的技术，而且还为在DNA、RNA和蛋白质研究中广泛应用的新的和显著改进的技术开辟了道路。这将通过从GE-Healthcare生命科学公司收购多功能、高分辨率生物分子成像仪amersham Typhoon RGB系统来实现。该设备将可供150多名总部人员使用，从而最大限度地发挥其作用。阿莫沙姆台风RGB对于所有这些HQP实现尖端发现的能力至关重要，这些发现在教育、创新和卫生等多个方面为加拿大带来了许多好处。培训结束后，接触到所要求的超现代成像仪的HQP将成为一支为学术界、工业界和加拿大人的福祉做出贡献的极其熟练的劳动力的关键部分。

Complex living organisms are made up of cells, which are small functional units acting in a coordinated way to accomplish the specialized functions of organs (e.g. heart, brain, kidneys, lungs, etc). Pioneering research from our group aims at increasing the knowledge of the processes underlying cells’ functions. This is important in order to understand how all parts of our body develop properly from conception and work accurately during our lifetime; a failure in a single cell may lead to problems for the whole organism. Our efforts also contribute to the development of basic and applied research in Canada via the training and sustained employment of highly qualified personnel (HQP) in the knowledge-based economy. The information acquired through our research programs also strengthens education in life science programs in Canadian universities, thus further contributing the training of a new generation of HQP that will work in a wide range of disciplines beyond cell biology, such as agronomy, bioengineering and human heath. Research in cell biology requires the detection and analysis of cellular components, including DNA, RNA and proteins. The need to quantitatively analyze ever-smaller and diverse samples has driven the development of detectors with greatly improved sensitivity and versatility, thus leaving research groupings such as ours with the need to replace uncompetitive digital or photographic technologies. The present application aims at not only substituting these outdated technology, but also to open the way to novel and significantly improved techniques with broad applications in DNA, RNA and protein research. This will be accomplished via the acquisition of a versatile, high-resolution biomolecular imager, the Amersham Typhoon RGB system from GE-Healthcare Life Sciences. This equipment will be accessible to over 150 HQP, thereby maximizing its usefulness. The Amersham Typhoon RGB is essential for the ability of all these HQPs to achieve cutting-edge discoveries with numerous benefits to Canada on multiple fronts, including education, innovation and health. After their training, HQP exposed to the requested ultramodern imager will become a key part of an extremely skilled workforce contributing to academia, industry and to the well being of Canadians.