MRI/RUI: Acquisition of a Laser Scanning Confocal Microscope

Dickinson College, Carlisle PA

Investigators

Abstract

A grant has been awarded to Dickinson College under the direction of Dr. John Henson to support the acquisition of a laser scanning confocal light microscope. The ongoing renaissance in the use of light microscopy for research and education in cell biology, neurobiology and developmental biology has been fueled by the capabilities of confocal microscopy systems. They have become the instrument of choice due to their ability to "optically section" cells and tissues and therefore allow for the 3D spatial resolution needed to define structural relationships, along with the temporal resolution needed to follow dynamic processes. Dickinson College, an undergraduate institution with an excellent record of student/faculty research and an innovative science education program, will use this confocal microscope to support student/faculty research, undergraduate education, and community outreach. The confocal microscopy system will be equipped with a microinjection set up and will support a wide variety of student/faculty research projects. The mechanism of cell motility and division will be addressed in experiments using sea urchin adult cells and embryos. How the liver transports toxic waste will be the focus of studies using cultures of skate liver cells. The turning on and off of specific genes during embryonic development will be worked on using fruit fly embryos. The neural control of metamorphosis in molluscan embryos and the localization of memory mechanisms in the brains of conditioned day old chicks will be subject of other studies involving the use of this instrument. Undergraduate research students will be integral participants in all of these projects, contributing to experimental design, execution and analysis as well as the presentation of results at meetings and the publication of the results in scientific journals. In terms of impact on undergraduate education, the instrument will be incorporated into the teaching of courses in cell biology, developmental biology, neurobiology, molecular genetics and biopsychology. The presence of a confocal microscope at Dickinson will have a number of significant and pervasive broader impacts. Importantly this instrument will serve as one of the underpinnings for a new interdisciplinary major in Neuroscience at Dickinson that will involve coursework selected from the offerings of the Biology and Psychology programs. In terms of service to underrepresented student groups, women undergraduate students currently make up roughly 75% of the Biology, Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Psychology majors. We also envision making this instrument available to faculty and students at Gettysburg and Franklin and Marshall Colleges, the two other member colleges of the Central Pennsylvania Consortium, as well as using both the Pennsylvania Academy of Sciences and the American Society for Cell Biology meetings as fora for discussing applications of confocal microscopy in a small college setting. Furthermore, we plan to write up research-oriented teaching labs that utilize the confocal for publication in the new on line journal Cell Biology Education. In terms of community outreach, the confocal microscope will be used in a Howard Hughes Medical Institute-funded program in which local high school teachers attend summer workshops in cell and molecular biology at Dickinson. The instrument will be used by teachers during these workshops and made available for use by visiting high school student groups during the academic year.