Core Services

Current Core Technologies

• Flow Cytometry: Analyzing and sorting individual cells within populations is vital to a better understanding of the roles of specific cell types in combating infection. High-throughput cell sorting allows the isolation and characterization of infectious agents expressing specific characteristics such as gene modifications. These tools are critical for advancing vaccine candidates and for understanding both host and parasite. The Flow Core provides flow cytometry and cell sorting services, as well as expert consultation for your projects.
• Imaging: The location of specific molecules within cells and tissues is often the key to understanding their function. Using fluorescent dyes and highly cooled CCD cameras, researchers are able to image components of the cell, tissues and organisms that would otherwise be invisible to the naked eye. The Imaging core provides high quality microscopes and imagers, analysis software, training and technical support for all of our researchers.
• Gene Quantification: Gene quantification through Real Time PCR is an essential tool for discovering information about the genes in organisms that we study. Real Time PCR uses fluorescently-labeled tags to measure copy number of a given gene(s) and show the effect of changes to that gene. The differences in the levels of gene expression help to teach researchers about its function and importance to the disease. This technology is also used for quantifying DNA libraries for downstream analysis with Next Generation Sequencing. We offer multiple traditional and high throughput Real Time PCR systems for measuring gene expression.