Pocatello -- When Idaho State University researchers want
DNA analyzed, they don’t send it to some faraway laboratory. They take
it to ISU’s Molecular Research Core Facility (MRCF).
Located in the Gale Life Sciences Building and operating under the umbrella of the ISU Office of Research, the MRCF does much more than test DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), the building blocks for genes.
“The MRCF is a centralized research resource that provides technical resources and services in molecular science for ISU scientists, including faculty and graduate and undergraduate students in the Colleges of Pharmacy and Kasiska Health Professions and the department of biological sciences, said Dr. Larry Smith, MRCF director and assistant chair of the biological sciences department.
“The undergraduates are able to take advantage of its state-of-the-art resources so they are familiar with them when they get into the real world, an opportunity possibly not available to undergraduates at larger institutions,” added facility manager Erin O’Leary-Jepsen.
The MRCF has off-campus clients, other universities and biotechnology centers, to augment funding that comes primarily from major federal grants and state and university support.
Dr. Maribeth Watwood, assistant chair of biological sciences, is very familiar with the MRCF, using its facilities in her bioremediation research. She praises its cost effectiveness and professional staff.
“Aspects of my research depend on being able to get key information from DNA extracted from different organisms. If I had to pay an outside laboratory to perform these analyses, my budget would not go nearly as far as with the MRCF,” Watwood said. “I have consistently found the MRCF staff to be professional, friendly, extremely talented, and knowledgeable about the latest techniques, instruments, and protocols.”
Some MRCF equipment is so state-of-the-art that only trained staff can operate it. The equipment includes two DNA sequencers; PCR (polymerase chain reaction) machines that copy specific DNA sequences; a DNA synthesizer; two digital microscopes, one of which is equipped with hardware and software to allow 3-D imaging; an imaging system to look at the DNA; and computing resources for DNA analysis.
A recent $8 million Biomedical Research Infrastructure Network (BRIN) grant from the National Institutes of Health is shared by Idaho’s three state universities, which had to create a cooperative networking plan to ensure receiving the grant. Under the plan, the MRCF serves as the state’s BRIN sequencing resource.
The grant provided approximately $2 million to ISU, $250,000 of which went to the MRCF for expansion, new equipment that included an ABI 3100 DNA sequencer, and the addition of sequencing technician Michelle Andrews.
Smith, O’Leary-Jepsen, and Andrews recently attended the Association of Biomolecular Resource Facilities annual meeting, which had 1,300 attendees representing several hundred universities and private-sector molecular research facilities.
“We got a look at the improved technology so when we have funding opportunities we know what to get,” Smith said. “We have ideas and goals for the future so we can be even better and keep our faculty and students competitive.”
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