2008 Woodie Awards
Chase Enters the 'Twilight Zone'
New high-tech equipment for experimentation
Matthew Jacobs
Issue date: 3/4/04 Section: News
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The Chase Science Center has received a bunch of new "toys" for the science departments. New equipment has come in for the Chemistry and Biology Departments that will allow them to study certain areas in greater depth.
This semester a DNA sequencer and a Protein Blot Imager have made their way into the Biochemistry lab of Chase. With the DNA sequencer, you can determine the chemical composition of DNA from different organisms. The Protein Blot Imager will allow students or professors to isolate certain proteins that have an infrared tag bound to them. With the new machines, students and professors can now do new experiments and take each of their classes to a new level. Experiments where you examine the DNA of various organisms and compare them to each other can now be done easily because you can look at the different sequences together on the monitor.
The Chemistry Department wasn't the only department to receive some new things. The Biology Department also received a few treats of their own. One of the items was an i-Worx software package. It will allow ECG/EKGs, EEGs, and EMGs. Electrocardiograms (ECG) measure your heart rate. This is the same technology that hospitals use. Electroencephalograms (EEG) measure your brainwaves. Electromyography measures the electric currents that are associated with muscle contractions. Students and professors will also be able to do blood pressure analysis and repertory analysis with the new software.
The Biology Department also received a Micro Manipulator which can be used to inject things into cells. This can be used for embryology. They also received a Stereotaxic Apparatus. This device can be used for mapping and brain studies in laboratory animals. It will be used primarily in the Neuro-Biology and Comparative Anatomy courses.
Two more items are still on their way for the Biology Department. The Microbiology lab will receive Orbital Shakers for the incubators so that the bacteria that is grown there does not all sink to the bottom. The second item is a new and more powerful microscope. The Olympus BX-51 microscope has florescence capabilities, and with a magnification of up to 600X, a lot can be seen with it. The microscope will also have a digital camera, so actual pictures can be taken of the cells. "It will allow us to do cutting edge experiments and cutting edge research at a school this size," said Assistant Professor of Biology Greg Smith.
This semester a DNA sequencer and a Protein Blot Imager have made their way into the Biochemistry lab of Chase. With the DNA sequencer, you can determine the chemical composition of DNA from different organisms. The Protein Blot Imager will allow students or professors to isolate certain proteins that have an infrared tag bound to them. With the new machines, students and professors can now do new experiments and take each of their classes to a new level. Experiments where you examine the DNA of various organisms and compare them to each other can now be done easily because you can look at the different sequences together on the monitor.
The Chemistry Department wasn't the only department to receive some new things. The Biology Department also received a few treats of their own. One of the items was an i-Worx software package. It will allow ECG/EKGs, EEGs, and EMGs. Electrocardiograms (ECG) measure your heart rate. This is the same technology that hospitals use. Electroencephalograms (EEG) measure your brainwaves. Electromyography measures the electric currents that are associated with muscle contractions. Students and professors will also be able to do blood pressure analysis and repertory analysis with the new software.
The Biology Department also received a Micro Manipulator which can be used to inject things into cells. This can be used for embryology. They also received a Stereotaxic Apparatus. This device can be used for mapping and brain studies in laboratory animals. It will be used primarily in the Neuro-Biology and Comparative Anatomy courses.
Two more items are still on their way for the Biology Department. The Microbiology lab will receive Orbital Shakers for the incubators so that the bacteria that is grown there does not all sink to the bottom. The second item is a new and more powerful microscope. The Olympus BX-51 microscope has florescence capabilities, and with a magnification of up to 600X, a lot can be seen with it. The microscope will also have a digital camera, so actual pictures can be taken of the cells. "It will allow us to do cutting edge experiments and cutting edge research at a school this size," said Assistant Professor of Biology Greg Smith.