Research Facilities
The Department of Microbiology and Cell Science occupies a 66,000 square-foot building that was constructed in 1994. About two-thirds of the facilities are devoted to research with the remainder used for teaching and administration.
Located within the building is the Departmental library which contains a diverse selection of microbiology, cell biology, biochemistry and immunology journals. Teaching laboratories are located within the building while most lectures courses are taught in lecture halls around the campus.
Undergraduate students who are involved in research and graduate students have access to a wide variety of sophisticated instrumentation, including electron microscopes, confocal microscope, a peptide synthesizer, circular dichroism spectropolarimeter, capillary electrophoresis, HPLC and FPLC for purification of proteins and other biological molecules, fluorometer/polarizing system for measuring protein-protein and DNA-protein interactions, ultracentrifuges, scintillation counters and anaerobic chambers for growth of strict anaerobes and purification of oxygen-sensitive enzymes.
Also available are biotechnology service laboratories which include facilities for biological computing, DNA sequencing, DNA synthesis, electron microscopy, flow cytometry, glycobiology, hybridoma and monoclonal antibody preparation, molecular biology services, protein chemistry, protein expression, plant containment and a fermentation laboratory for large-scale growth of microorganisms, harvesting and cell disruption.
