Student science
MIT has integrated the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyser into its biological engineering department?s undergraduate laboratory course.
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) has integrated the Agilent 2100 Bioanalyser into its biological engineering department’s undergraduate laboratory course. The instrument is a microfluidics-based platform for sizing, quantification and quality control of DNA, RNA, proteins and cells on a single platform.
“We’ve been absolutely thrilled to have the bioanalyser in the biological engineering department’s teaching laboratory at MIT,” said Nathan Tedford, instructor and research scientist at MIT. “Having this instrument has given the students added flexibility in their experiments, and they have been excited to see a hands-on example of a cutting-edge technology that they learn about in the classroom.”
Bioengineering is one of the fastest growing programmes at MIT and undergraduate students are using the bioanalyser to learn a wide array of techniques for cellular and molecular biology. Topics include stem cell culture, DNA engineering and cloning, flow cytometry, phage display and mammalian cell imaging and characterization. The bioanalyser uses miniaturized lab-on-a-chip technology to replace traditional slab gel electrophoresis techniques and is reported to speed up the process, improving consistency of results and reducing use of hazardous chemicals associated with DNA analysis.
This story originally appeared in The Column. Click here to view that issue.
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