Life in the Lab
We use many mammalian cell lines to study how DNA polymerases and related proteins process and repair DNA damage.
On the left we are culturing Polq knockout mES cell lines. We will use them to help us define functions of POLQ.
On the right, we are passaging candidate REV3L knockout cell lines. We have already established two REV3L knockout cell lines for elucidating the mechanism of tumor growth.
The ability of some bacterial cells to take up and incorporate plasmids allows the construction and replication of selected DNA sequences.
We use high-speed centrifuges, with vacuum and temperature-control, to separate and concentrate samples including cell extracts. The cell lysates are collected in designated tubes for the centrifuge rotor. The rotor is loaded in the centrifuge and locked before starting the centrifugation process.
Many experiments start with and rely on precise measurement of the chemicals used to make solutions in order to achieve consistent, reproducible results.
Not all centrifuges are large, small microcentrifuges are useful when working with small samples. We often use a microcentrifuge for multiple, small samples during the molecular cloning process.
Fast protein (or performance) liquid chromatography is a liquid chromatography method that is used to separate and purify proteins, peptides and nucleic acids. Many different chromatography columns can be used with this instrument to purify these molecules based on their unique characteristics such as size, charge, solubility, or binding affinity.
A phosphor screen is placed into a laser scanner designed for fluorescent and colorimetic biomolecular imaging as well as sensitive, quantitative measurement of radioisotopically labeled samples
