The Syngene imaging station comprises two image acquisition units, the GeneGnome and the GeneGenius, that are connected to a central PC workstation. The GeneGnome is equipped with a 16-bit CCD digital camera and has been optimized for acquiring images of blotted macromolecules that have been stained with a chemiluminescent dye. The GeneGenius contains an 8-bit CCD camera, a UV-transilluminator providing UV light with a wavelength of 302 nm, an overhead UV lamp which can be set to 254 nm or 365 nm and a Dark Reader which uses a visible light source to excite fluorophores from 420 nm to 500 nm. The GeneGenius can be used to capture the images of a variety of stained samples, such as UV-fluorescent or GFP-labelled samples, Coomassie or silver-stained protein gels and ELISA-stained western blots. The GeneGenius is also capable of performing colony counting on a variety of solid substrates and can distinguish between colonies with different colors. In addition, using the white-light converter, images of X-ray films can be acquired. The imaging station has a powerful and user-friendly image acquisition and analysis software package that can be used for quantifying samples on the digital images.

The Agilent Bioanalyzer permits the rapid separation (as quick as 90 seconds per well), visualization and quantification of DNA, RNA or protein samples. Available kits (provided by the user): DNA 1000 (25 - 1000 bp resolution), DNA 7500 (100 - 7500 bp resolution), DNA 12000 (100 - 12000 bp resolution), RNA 6000 Nano (qualitative range of 5 - 500 ng/µl total RNA, 25 - 250 ng/µl mRNA), RNA 6000 Pico (qualitative range of 50 - 5000 pg/µl total RNA, 250 - 5000 pg/µl mRNA), Protein 230 (14 - 230 kDa resolution), Protein 80 (5 - 80 kDa resolution).

The Cary 50 spectrophotometers are used for quantification of light-absorbing materials. The scanning range of these instruments spans from 190 nm - 1100 nm, therefore UV-absorbing molecules such as DNA and proteins, as well colored materials can be easily be quantified. Absorbance readings can be taken from 0.001 (just above the noise level) to 3 absorbance units. These spectrophotometers use single source full spectrum Xenon flash lamps. One of the units at the CSFG is dedicated for use with plastic or quartz cuvettes, while the other is dedicated for use with a fibre-optic probe, which can be directly dipped into the solution of interest.

The Victor2 multilabel counter is used to quantitate light-emitting or light-absorbing markers using specific filters. It can be used for such diverse applications as monitoring cell growth, monitoring gene expression through reporter gene activity, determining protein or DNA concentrations in samples, and even detecting protein-protein interactions. The instrument currently contains the following filters: Absorbance: 405 (+/- 4), 450 (+/- 3), 490 (+/- 3) or 690 (+/- 5) nm, Fluorescence: excitation at 355 (+/- 15), 390 (+/- 10), 485 (+/- 7.5) or 544 (+/- 10) nm, emission at 460 (+/- 15), 510 (+/- 5), 535 (+/- 15), 590 (+/- 10) or 670 (+/- 20) nm, Luminescence: open, or use the above emission filters. For kinetic assays, plates may be incubated at temperatures ranging from ambient to 37° C.

The CHEF-DR III Pulsed Field Electrophoresis System allows very large (chromosome-sized, or millions of base pairs) DNA molecules to be efficiently separated. DNA resolved in such a manner can be used for karyotype analysis, chromosomes can be probed to map the locations of genes of interest and DNA digested with restriction endonucleases can be probed to detect restriction fragment length polymorphisms. The 14 cm x 12.7 cm pulsed field certified agarose gel can be loaded with up to 15 samples (6 mm x 1.5 mm well) and the Cooling Module is used to set the buffer temperature to the operational 14° C.

  

The CSFG possesses a number of different PCR machines, each with unique capabilities. The Techne Techgene Thermal Cycler is the basic unit for amplifying DNA and accomodates up to 25 x 0.2 ml PCR reaction tubes or one small 25-well microtiter plate. The Applied Biosystems GeneAmp PCR System 9700 is primarily used for PCR-based DNA sequencing (for the automated DNA sequencer) and for amplifying high throughput PCR reactions in 96-well microtiter plates (capacity of 96 x 0.2 ml microtubes or one 96-well microtiter plate). The CSFG has an additional interchangeable block for the GeneAmp 9700 that can accomodate two 384-well (25 µl capacity) microtiter plates. The Eppendorf Mastercycler Gradient Thermal Cycler is capable of establishing a temperature gradient across its functional surface (midpoint +/- 1° C to 10° C, or a 2° C to 20° C gradient, with the lowest temperature of a gradient being 4° C and the highest 99° C), allowing a quick determination of the optimal annealing temperature for PCR reactions. It can accomodate 96 x 0.2 ml or 77 x 0.5 ml PCR reaction tubes or one 96-well microtiter plate. Finally, the Techne Touchgene Gradient Thermal Cycler also establishes a gradient across its temperature block, but has a slightly more linear and larger maximum gradient (midpoint +/- 0.5° C to 15° C, or a 1° C to 30° C gradient, with the gradient range being from 20° C to 70° C and operating temperatures from 4° C to 99° C) than the Eppendorf model. It can accomodate 96 x 0.2 ml micotubes or one 96-well microtiter plate.

The CSFG currently owns two identical ABI PRISM 7000 Sequence Detection System real-time PCR machines. The PRISM 7000 can detect and quantitate nucleic acids and can be used for multiplex quantitation, allelic discrimination and plus/minus assays. The instrument's thermal cycling block is a 96-well Peltier-based unit which can accomodate a 96-well plate, 0.2 ml strips or individual 0.2 ml tubes. Each well or tube can hold 5 to 100 ul of reaction mixture. The block can be programmed with temperatures from 4° C to 99° C and can emulate the GeneAmp 9600 ramp rate. In real-time PCR experiments, fluorescent dyes are excited using a tungsten-halogen lamp and their emission detected using a cooled CCD camera and four filters (ranging from 505 nm to 620 nm) optimized for use with FAM/SYBR Green 1, VIC/JOE, TAMRA and ROX dyes. The PRISM 7000 can use both the TaqMan probe and SYBR Green I dye chemistries. Copy number determination is linear over a dynamic range of at least five orders of magnitude.

The J-20I and J-30I are high speed centrifuges designed to meet the standard requirements of most laboratories, such as spinning down cells, purifying DNA, or separating macromolecules. Rotors: JA-10 (6 x 500 ml bottles), JA-14 (6 x 250 ml bottles), JA-30.50 Ti (8 x 50 ml tubes), JS-24.15 (6 x 15 ml tubes; swinging bucket), JS-4.3 with adapters for 4 x 750 ml bottles, 4 x 500 ml bottles, 4 x 250 ml bottles, 8 x 50 ml conical tubes, 28 x 15 ml conical tubes, 4 x microtiter plates (stackable up to 3 shallow-well plates per carrier).

The Bio-Rad electroporator permits the introduction of exogenous DNA into prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells at high efficiencies. It can be used for the standard introduction of plasmid DNA during cloning applications or for other experiments, such as the insertion of DNA for gene replacement through recombination. Resistance can be set from 50 - 400 ohms (low range) or 500 - 1000 (or "infinite") ohms (high range); capacitance from 1.0 - 50 µF (or user selectable high capacitance); and voltage from 0.2 - 2.5 kV.

The Beadbeater can homogenize tissue or cell samples in order to isolate proteins, DNA or RNA. It can process samples in 1 - 3 minutes in 0.1 ml - 1 ml of buffer containing glass or ceramic beads. Up to eight 1.5 ml microcentrifuge tubes can be accomodated in the sample chamber. The timer can be set from 1 to 5 minutes (or on hold) and the speed can be varied from 100 to 3200 rpm.

The Speed Vac is primarily used for concentrating dilute solutions of proteins or DNA or completely evaporating the solvent from these solutions. Acceptable solvents include water, ethanol, methanol and acetonitrile. The Speed Vac can process up to 40 x 1.5 ml or 96 x 0.2 ml microcentrifuge tubes or two microtiter plates. The unit can either be operated at room temperature or from 35° C - 80° C, in 5° C increments. An oil-free (therefore, low-maintenance) pump provides the vacuum.

This sliding door refrigerator provides easy access to stored samples and ongoing experiments. Its 40 cu. ft. capacity allows for the storage of small appliances, such as centrifuges, as well as larger chromatography systems, to be used at 4° C.

The Powerwave HT plate reader can measure optical densities of samples in 96-well or 384-well microtiter plates. A monochromator with a xenon flash lamp is used to allow selection of wavelenghts from 200 - 999 nm in 1 nm increments without the use of filters. The instrument has a dynamic range of 0 - 4.0 OD units. Temperature can be set from 4° C above ambient to 50° C and plate shaking can be programmed if necessary. Microtiter plates can be read in endpoint, kinetic, spectral scanning and well scanning modes. Using the normal reading speed, a 96-well plate can be read in 20 sec (a 384-well plate in 66 sec); using the rapid reading speed, a 96-well plate can be read in 11 sec (384-well plate in 23 sec); using the sweep reading speed, a 96-well plate can be read in 5 sec (384-well plate in 11 sec).

This tabletop centrifuge can handle up to 20 x 15 ml conical tubes, 8 x 50 ml conical tubes or 4 x standard 96-well or 384-well microplates in any given run. It has a speed range of 1,000 rpm to a maximum of 13,000 rpm (16,750 x g). Up to 10 personalized programs can be stored and are easily accessible through the control panel. Alternatives to stored programs include: Manual option allowing the user to input a personalized run configuration and Momentary Spin option allowing for quick spins of samples and a walk-away Hold option for continuous operation.

The uFill can dispense reagents into standard 96- or 384-well microtiter plates and into 96- or 384-well deepwell plates. Volumes of 10 - 3000 ul can be added per well of a 96-well plate and 5 - 1500 ul can be added per well of a 384-well plate. Dispense rates depend on the selected dispense volume. Typically, a 96-well plate can be filled with 100 ul of reagent in about 10-15 sec.

The P-Touch Pro printer can generate barcodes in several universal barcode formats that can be scanned and recognized by various barcode readers. Barcode tapes can range from 6 mm to 36 mm in width. The printer can also output laminated labels with text.

The Thermo ModulyoD freeze dryer is used to remove moisture from samples. It has a condenser chamber capacity of 5 liters (maximum ice capacity of 4.5 kg) and can remove 1.2 kg of ice from frozen samples in 24 hours. The instrument operates at -50° C and about 30 ubar. A 24-port drum has neoprene valves that can accomodate flasks of up to 4 liters each. Small volume samples can be placed inside the drum in trays, beakers, vials or microtubes.

This MWG liquid handler is made up of a Rosys deck able to handle a total of 19 microtitre plates at once: 7 on deck positions and 12 on stacker positions. This fully automated system uses a gripper to move the plates around the deck and also extends off the deck, if desired. It has four washable needles that can be replaced by disposable tips, both move in x/y/z and Varispan® directions. The tips are stacked to save deck space. The peristaltic pump, vacuum pump and shaker are all software controlled. Small volume liquid transfers, Peltier-cooled reagent rack and PCR plate position allow for PCR and sequencing reaction sample setup. This robot can also be used for serial dilutions, cherry picking, minipreps and magnetic bead protocols.

This website was created by Aleks Spurmanis