Specialized Instruments
The following are some of the specialized research instruments in individual laboratories within the Faculty of Science. These instruments belong to specific researchers and are not available to everyone. Please contact Gena Braun or the researcher directly if you are interested in using one of these instruments.
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Varian Saturn 2000 GC/MS |
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| The Varian GC-MS is equipped with a CP8200 autosampler which can hold up to 48 vials. The autosampler allows for liquid, solid phase microextraction (SPME), or ambient headspace injection of volumes using a 10 or 100 microliter syringe. The 1079 programmable temperature vapourizing injector can be used for split and splitless, temperature-ramped splitless, large volume, and cold on-column injection. Fractions exiting the column can be detected using flame ionization, electron capture, and/or mass spectrometry. | |||
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Waters Delta 600 HPLC |
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| There are two Waters Delta HPLC systems in the Faculty of Science. Combined, these systems offer semi-preparative and analytical capabilities; a photodiode array; absorbance, or refractive index detection; an autosampler; and fraction collection. Separations can be run in both isocratic and gradient mode at flow rates up to 20 ml/min depending on the column. Waters Empower software can be used to control runs and analyze data. | |||
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Waters Micromass ZQ LC/MS |
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| This HPLC-MS system is equipped with two Waters 515 pumps, an absorbance detector, a column oven, and the Micromass ZQ single quadrupole mass spectrometer. The ZQ can ionize samples using either electrospray ionization (+/- ESI) or atmospheric pressure chemical ionization (APCI). Data collection and analysis are conducted using Masslynx 4.0 software. | |||
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Mettler Toledo DL32 Karl Fisher Titrator |
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| The DL32 is a coulometric KF titrator which can be used to determine water contents in small sample volumes. The DL32 is ideal for water contents in the range of 1 ppm to 5%. | |||
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Microcal VP-ITC Isothermal Titrator Microcalorimeter |
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| The VP-ITC can be used to study reaction thermodynamics, binding constants, and stoichiometry. This instrument measures the heat released or absorbed as a reaction occurs, and can be used to monitor reactions that are initiated by a binding component, including: antigen-antibody, DNA-drug, and protein-ligand reactions. Typical injection volumes are between 2-10 microliter, and sample/macromolecule concentrations should be between 5 micromolar – 1 millimolar. | |||
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Tanager Dual pH meter and Titrimeter |
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| This automatic titrator is interfaced with a modular spectrometer system and can be used to run controlled reactions while monitoring a variety of physical and chemical parameters. | |||
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Aviv Circular Dichroism Spectrometer
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| The circular dichroism (CD) spectrometer can be used to assess the conformation of various sample types, including DNA and proteins. This instrument can be used to conduct wavelength, temperature, kinetic, and titration experiments. CD spectra can be recorded as a function of wavelength, time, temperature, pH, or concentration. | |||
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Modular Fiber Optic Spectrometer |
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| This modular fiber optic system includes a 1m light path for colorimetery, a UV-Vis absorbance fiber optic probe, and a fluorescence fiber optic probe. The spectrometer components are connected to a Tanager autotitration system (see above). | |||
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Varian Spectra 880 Atomic Absorption Spectrometer |
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Perkin Elmer 3100 Atomic Absorption Spectrometer |
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| This AAS is equipped with the lamps required to do all major cations and many heavy metals. The detection limits for most elements is low ppm (i.e. 0.30 ppm). | |||
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Fiber Optic Raman Spectrometer |
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| Raman spectroscopy can be used to study a wide variety of sample types based on a change in polarizability due to vibrational motion following absorption of a photon. | |||
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Biorad Personal FX Molecular Imager |
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| This phosphorimager detects radio-labeled DNA and protein molecules using phosphor screens. The imager accommodates both large (35 x 43 cm) and small (20 x 25 cm) storage phosphor screens. Storage phosphor technology offers the high isotopic sensitivity, with exposure times typically 1/10 that of film. Samples can be labeled using the radioisotopes 32P, 33P, 35S, 14C and 3H. The information obtained from the imager can be used to assess protein metabolism, gene expression, and nucleic acid sequences. Any work involving radioactivity must first be approved by the Environmental/ Occupational Health and Safety Office. | |||
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Licor 4300 DNA Sequencer |
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| The Licor sequencer can be used for DNA sequencing, microsatellite analysis, and amplified fragment length polymorphism (AFLP) analysis. This instrument is capable of reading up to 1000-1200 bp with very high accuracy using a dual laser system. Up to 64 samples can be loaded in one run. The software can be used to view the electrophoresis results, make manual changes, and to align sequences. | |||
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DNR Bio-Imaging System 303 |
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| This gel-doc system can be used for chemiluminescence detection on gels, blots, autoradiographs, and TLC plates. Images are collected using a cooled CCD camera, and viewed on the BIS software. The software can also be used to optimize the image, adjust exposure time, and save protocols. Samples should be 17 cm x 21 cm or smaller. If additional accessories are acquired, this system could also be used to image fluorescent and stained samples. | |||
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Leica DMR Upright Brightfield Microscope |
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| This is a research quality microscope with brightfield and differential interference contrast capability. The microscope is equipped with a digital imaging system. | |||
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Olympus BX-51 Optical Microscope |
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| This optical microscope is capable of up to 1500X magnification. It is equipped with dry lenses, which can be coupled to a sensitive UV-Vis spectrometer for microspectroscopy (~10 micron by 10 micron areas). | |||
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Olmpus Fluoview FV1000 Confocal Laser Scanning Microscope |
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| This inverted confocal laser scanning microscope can be used for 3-D imaging, time course experiments, energy transfer visualization, and photobleaching experiments using both live and mounted specimens. The system is equipped with three lasers: a multi argon-ion laser (457, 488, and 515 nm), a helium-neon (green) laser (543 nm), and two diode lasers (643 and 405 nm). The high quality optics include 5 objective lenses: 10x, 20x, 40x, 60x (oil immersion), and 100x (oil immersion). The user friendly software is used for image acquisition and simple analysis. | |||
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Hitachi SU-1500 Scanning Electron Microscope and Sputter Coater |
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| This SEM can be operated under variable pressure and is equipped with a tungsten hairpin filament electron source and an environmental secondary electron detector. For more details please visit the SEM Facility page. | |||
