Laboratory facilities on campus are located in Bowers Hall. In addition to the teaching
laboratories associated with courses, faculty members have their own research labs.
Moreover, two special labs have been equipped, one for tissue culture and one for scanning
electron microscopy. There is a well-provisioned stockroom and a full-time technician is
on our staff. There are two greenhouses, a vivarium, a herbarium and all of the standard
laboratory equipment necessary for teaching and for our faculty and students to conduct
their research. A small museum is located between the two large lecture halls in the
building and the displays are being refurbished and modernized with assistance from
students. There are two computer labs in Bowers Hall, one with PC's and Macintosh
computers connected to a mainframe computer and a second with terminals to the mainframe.
Finally, there are two study rooms in the building where students can work quietly by
themselves or in small groups.
A new Molecular
Biology Laboratory funded by a recent National Science Foundation Grant to Dr. Michael
Carson is now established in Room 236 of Bowers. The lab is being used in Cell Biology and
Genetics and for student and faculty research projects. Laboratory exercises in Genetics
will relate DNA Diagnostics to interesting issues in human disease.
The lab houses a Thermal Cycler to amplify DNA using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR),
seven submarine gel electrophoresis stations and an automated photographic recording
system for gels utilizing a flatbed scanner and a network of three personal computers. The
computer network is used as a teaching tool to access information about the molecular
basis of human disease and to disseminate information from the facility to the greater
university community through the world wide web.
Dr. Steve Broyles in the Molecular Biology Lab.