Workspace in the Molecular Ecology and Evolution Lab
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THE CENTRAL AISLE. There is a central aisle between the two work benches. On the right are centrifuges and various machines for heating flasks and tubes. On the left is the Milli-Q water dispensor, a wet area for mixing solutions and then the area for electrophoresis.
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LEFT-HAND WORKBENCH. The left side of the left-hand work bench has the PCR machine at the far end and a wet area at the near end. This is where the small autoclave is and the dishwasher
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DISHWASHER AND WATER STORAGE TANK. The dishwasher can acid-wash glassware and sanitize at 80 degrees C. It rinses with reverse osmosis water from the tank on the metal shelf above the sink (right).
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SOLUTION PREPARATION AREA. Also on the left-hand workbench, the Milli-Q dispenser, pH meter and magnetic stirrers are all close to the sink. The electrophoresis area is just to the right, outside of the picture.
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ELECTROPHORESIS AREA. There is plenty of space to run several gels at the same time.
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VERITY PCR MACHINE. This is a good, end-point PCR machine with capacity for 96-well plates. The heating block has six separately controlable zones, so that one can run reactions under different thermal conditions simultaneously. This speeds up PCR optimization.
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REFRIGERATED MINI-CENTRIFUGE, plate centrifuge and several tube spinners provide us with the capacity to address a variety of needs.
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HEATING AND CENTRIFUGATION. On the right-hand bench, there is a microwave oven, a water bath, a high-speed centriguge for microtubes, a centrifuge for 96-well plates, and an Eppendorf thermomixer with four different blocks. These fit 0.5 ml, 1.5 ml, and 2.0 ml microtubes, plus another for 96-well PCR plates.
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DIGITAL DATA CAPTURE. The gel imager, fluorometer and BioDrop spectrophotometer are all conected to the laboratory computer. A printer on the internet is available in the lab.
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There is plenty of space around the spectrophotometer and fluorometer to work with samples
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Both the 0.0001g and 0.01g balances are stabily located on a 350 Kg weighing table.
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EXTRACTION HOOD allows work with hazardous chemicals.
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A forced-air oven is for drying autoclaved tips and glassware. A constant temperature incuabtor is used for bacterial culture.
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Here you get a general view of the lab, with the wet area and the upright -20 C freezer and refridgerator in the background. There is also a fume hood and a laminar flow hood. A -80 C freezer is in the basement.
