Research Facilities

The Wadsworth Center comprises four laboratory divisions in the biomedical and environmental sciences that occupy over 800,000 square feet of space. BMS faculty and students work in laboratories at the Empire State Plaza and the nearby David Axelrod Institute.

Among the unique facilities available to students and faculty in this department is the Wadsworth Center's Biological Microscopy and Image Reconstruction Resource, sponsored as a national biotechnology resource by the NIH. This resource features high-voltage and conventional electron microscopes capable of low-temperature operation and digital collection for 3-D imaging of biological specimens. A full array of modern light microscopy techniques is also available, including a laser-based cell microsurgery workstation and laser confocal microscopes. The facilities include a wide range of versatile computer image processing systems, many developed in-house.

The structural biology program of the Wadsworth Center includes X-ray protein crystallography and multi-dimensional NMR, which take biomolecular determinations to the atomic level. Staff scientists utilize (and some are developing) a number of other cutting-edge techniques, including biological mass spectrometry, computer-based sequence analysis, protein microsequencing, and peptide synthesis.

Investigators employing molecular genetics approaches have access to core facilities that support DNA sequencing, oligonucleotide synthesis, microarray analyses and mouse transgenics or gene knockouts.

The Genomics Core offers DNA purification and genotyping services. Molecular immunology and cell biology studies are also supported by in-house access to flow cytometry, cell sorting, and polyclonal and monoclonal antibody production.