Scientific Research Scores Again!

Southern New Jersey's growing reputation as a center for scientific research is positioned to take a giant step forward, thanks to the addition of three significant instruments at Rutgers University-Camden.

A recently awarded three-year, $306,491 National Science Foundation (NSF) grant will allow Rutgers-Camden scholars to enhance their research on complex biological systems with the acquisition of three major research instruments: the Molecular Dynamics Storm 860 Imaging System, the ESA High Pressure Liquid Chromatology (HPLC) with Model 5600 CoulArray Detector, and the LECO CNS-2000 Macro Elemental Analyzer.

The imaging system, or phosphorimager, is a way for scientists to analyze electrophoretic gels used to separate proteins according to their electric charge. A huge scanner that measures sample radioactivity or fluorescence activated by an ultraviolet light, the phosphorimager will prove to be highly useful for scientists studying molecular and cellular biology. This new procedure replaces the time-consuming process of developing X-ray film, then scanning the results into a computer.

Crime TV buffs may be familiar with the chromatograph, an instrument that can give a chemical breakdown of an unknown substance found at a crime scene. A high-pressure liquid chromatograph (HPLC), purchased by Rutgers-Camden, is the one of the most technologically advanced instruments of its kind allowing for a more highly sensitive and selective read out of compounds. The electrochemical detection and autosampling features will also allow for new research capabilities and the processing of large numbers of samples.

The elemental analyzer measures total carbon, nitrogen, and sulfur content in a sample. The ease of use of this system will allow for more reliable and convenient determination of these major elements, and will particularly facilitate analyses of samples from environmental studies, like those in the Rutgers Pinelands Field Station.

As part of the Information Processing in Complex Biological Systems Initiative at Rutgers-Camden, the three pieces of equipment will be housed in the Science Building on the Rutgers-Camden campus.

"This equipment is not just important to Rutgers-Camden, and because the instruments are relatively rare to this region, we aim to make them available for other South Jersey researchers," says Joseph Martin, a Rutgers-Camden professor of biology and the primary investigator on this project, along with Rutgers-Camden coinvestigators Daniel Shain, John Dighton, and Pradip Sarkar.

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Author: Press Release