About the IAB Core Facility (DNA Core Lab)
History: The Core Facility for Nucleic Acid Analysis was established at the Institute of Arctic Biology in 1995 with a grant from the National Science Foundation (Instrumentation and Instrument Development Program). It is a staffed facility intended to keep UAF at the "cutting edge" of nucleic acid analysis in evolutionary biology, molecular biology, and wildlife and fisheries management. UAF was recently the beneficiary of an NSF EPSCoR grant, an NIH BRIN (INBRE) grant, and an NIH COBRE grant, part of which was designated for new genomic instrumentation. Over the last few years the Core Facility has grown from having only one ABI 373 slab gel sequencer to having two capillary sequencers ( ABI 3100, ABI 3130xl) plus several other major pieces of instrumentation and various other supporting equipment. See Equipment for more information on instruments.
Services: The Core Facility provides nucleic acid sample analysis, and maintenance and support for molecular instruments (some of which may be too expensive for individual labs to own) for both UAF and outside users. The Core Lab facilitates learning by hosting training workshops and seminars for instrumentation and techniques to help students, faculty, and staff learn to use available equipment. The Core Lab also provides tours to middle and high school students/teachers, undergraduate students, graduate students, research staff, faculty candidates, and local or out of state visitors. The Core Lab has also been involved in several undergraduate/graduate classes offered by the Biology Department and the Chemistry Department. See Services and Fees for more information on lab services.
Users and Research: Of all facilities at UAF, the Core Facility may have the broadest interdisciplinary focus, since it attracts users from many major administrative units, including:
Faculty and students in the Department of Anthropology are also potential users as are labs outside UAF.
To date the Core Facility has been used to produce research data by more than twenty PI labs from seven departments at UAF and UAA, the Alaska Sea Life Center, visiting students and scholars from Sweden, Russia, the Czech Republic, and others. See Past and Present Research for more research information.
UAF is an affirmative action/equal opportunity employer and educational institution.
|
