Molecular Biology Facility Core
Significance and Description
Virtually all investigations into the mechanisms involved in environmental toxicology in general and carcinogenesis in particular have benefited from the tremendous progress that has been made in the molecular understanding of disease processes and environmental interactions, and in the availability of comprehensive genome-wide sequence data for an increasing number of species. As a result, most projects of investigators involve Molecular Biology at some level.
The overall goal of the Molecular Biology Facility Core is to provide investigators access to sophisticated and state-of-the-art molecular techniques. Because the Department of Carcinogenesis is multidisciplinary in nature, the level of support needed by different investigators varies widely. Consequently, the level of access offered by the Molecular Biology Facility Core varies from advice on specific aspects of projects, through training on particular instruments available in the Core, to complete molecular analyses from sample preparation to the final data analysis and interpretation.
The Molecular Biology Facility Core has traditionally provided services ranging from DNA isolation, PCR-based genotyping, manual and automated DNA sequencing, to mutation analysis. Currently, the services provided have been expanded significantly in three areas: protein expression analysis, RNA level gene expression analysis, and human SNP analysis.
Staff
Jianjun Shen, Ph.D., Director