Lumicks C-Trap Dymo-300 for interdisciplinary research at The RNA Institute

Project Summary The Life Science Initiative and the RNA Institute of the State University of New York at Albany (UAlbany) represent a regional hub for multidisciplinary and collaborative research by undergraduate and graduate students, post-doctoral fellows, research staff, and faculty. This highly interactive institution operates on a dynamic collaborative approach toward scientific discoveries and high-quality education. To continue our faculty’s historic interdisciplinary collaborative research ventures through our shared core research facilities, we have identified a need for a Lumicks C-Trap correlative force and fluorescence optical tweezer system. This unique instrument is capable of real-time observation, monitoring, and quantitation of interactions between and within biomolecules, cells, and other nano-micro scale materials. This instrument can provide a unique window into biological and biochemical mechanisms. Acquisition of this instrument will benefit a wide variety of research programs across the project’s major and minor user groups encompassing diverse fields including: RNA structure and function, RNA modifications, regulation of transcription and translation, developmental biology, nucleic acid nanotechnology, RNA repeat disorders, viral infection dynamics, and drug development. This instrument will bring new capabilities that are currently unavailable on campus or even within a 100+ mile radius. The excellent capabilities of this system will enable our program’s major and minor users as well as the broader research community of New York’s capital region to meet the imaging research needs of their cutting-edge research programs.