Equipment for Cellular and Molecular Biology

The department has a long tradition of excellence in this area. Several recent grants from the National Science Foundation and the Howard Hughes Medical Center have allowed us to update and increasing our holdings of molecular and cellular instrumentation and to integrate these techniques in appropriate areas of our curriculum. Further idea of the scope of these facilities can be obtained by reading the descriptions of course laboratories. Some of the types of equipment include:

• Tissue and cell culture facilities
• Electrophoresis equipment for nucleic acids or proteins.
• Multiple thermocyclers for Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) techniques.
• Equipment for mutagenic and anaerobic studies of microorganisms and developmental biology.
• Full complements of visible, UV and fluorescence microscopes.
• Departmental Microscopy Facility with live cell fluorescence,laser scanning confocal and scanning electron microscopes and associated equipment for preparation of histological samples located both in the microscopy lab and in the histology teaching lab.
• Macromolecular purification and analysis facilities including two FLPCs, two preparative ultracentrifuges, a chemiluminescence imaging system and a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionization (MALDI) mass spectrometer.
• Radioisotope license.
• Three walk-in cold rooms used specifically for biochemical analyses.
• Low temperature freezers for tissue and biochemical storage.
• Aquatic Animal Care Facility

For those interested in organismal or ecological approaches to biology, the department is well-equipped, and we have access to a number of excellent field sites, for instance, the Harvard Forest located about 35 miles west of campus in Petersham, MA and numerous local lakes, streams, fields and woodlands. In additional to the usual sorts of equipment for preserving, measuring, and drying samples the department also possesses the following:

• Greenhouses used to grow plants and certain animals in conjunction with field studies. A recent grant from the Sherman-Fairchild Foundation has increased the number of greenhouses to three and has improved access to them from the teaching labs.
• Growth chambers in which a variety of organisms can be grown or tested in controlled environments.
• Electrophoresis equipment for determination of genetic variability of natural populations.
• Motorized jon boat and equipment for sampling of aquatic life and for making physical and chemical measurements of environmental conditions.

• GIS Lab: we have have a well-equiped GIS lab which is used by students and faculty in courses and as part of their research.
• Oxygen and carbon dioxide analysis equipment all interfaced to computers; used to determine metabolism of humans and different animals under a variety of different conditions.
• Anaerobic growth chamber for studies of bacteria.
• Bioacoustics equipment for collection, measurement, and analysis of animal sounds (including recording equipment, computers and software for analysis, and sound pressure analysis equipment).
• Scanning electron microscope for morphology studies.

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Computing and Information Technology -- the Biology Department Computer Facility

The department has a long history of making use of computers it both its teaching and research and faculty have received a number of grants involving the use of computers in labs and for simulations. In 1996 the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, a major benefactor of the Department and the the science programs at the College, awarded the College a large grant that among many projects funded the equipping of a Biology Departmental Computing Facility. The facility's purpose is to foster the use of common techniques (e.g., statistical analysis) across the biology curriculum.

Since 1996, the College has maintained its commitment to a state-of-the-art facility. The lab itself was refurbished during the expansion and restoration of O'Neil Hall in 1999-2000 and in the fall of 2001 all the computers first purchased in 1997 were replaced with a mix of Dell and Macintosh G4 workstations. During the summer of 2002 computer projection facilities will be added to make the lab comparable to other classrooms. All workstations will are connected to the campus network and provide our students with full internet access. Each station possesses modeling, graphics, image analysis, and statistical software in addition to word processing and spreadsheet programs.

Teaching Laboratories and Computing: Certain teaching laboratories (e.g., introductory biology and physiology) have long been equipped with excellent computer facilities. In 1996 the Sherman-Fairchild Foundation provided funds to update the computers used in Introductory Biology laboratories. In addition, the Howard Hughes Medical Institute provided funds for computer use in non-majors lab courses (Medical Detectives and Exercise Physiology) and for image capture in Cell Biology and related courses.

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