Digital PCR System

Project Summary/Abstract Cedar Crest College is a small women’s college grounded in the liberal arts, with a strong commitment to training students in STEM fields. With a student body composed of 43% percent first generation students, 42% students of color, and over 90% of first-year students receiving some form of institutional financial aid (with 47% of full-time, first-time degree/certificate-seeking undergraduate students receiving Pell grant assistance), the Department of Biological Sciences believes that using frequent and persistent scientific research opportunities to engage and train our students is critical for their development as independent scientists. To this end, the Department is committed to training students in advanced instrumentation within courses, to incorporating Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) in all offered laboratory courses, and to strongly promoting student participation in independent research opportunities by all students making academic progress (>90% student participation with an average of 4.7 semesters of completed research by graduation). To complement available Departmental instrumentation, this proposal requests funding to support the addition of a Digital PCR (dPCR) system to the Departmental repertoire. This technology provides a significant advancement in nucleic acid analysis that allows for absolute quantitation of gene expression and DNA copy number variation, detection, and identification of microbes in samples, and identification of rare Single Nucleotide Polymorphisms (SNPs). The dPCR technology will be incorporated into multiple laboratory course offerings including Microbiology, Molecular Genetics I & II, Advanced PCR Techniques, and Advanced Brain Lab, while also being used in at least four independent research programs focused on stem cell biology, mechanisms of antibiotic resistance, environmental microbial monitoring, and characterization of DNA damage repair pathways. Awarding of this grant will allow the Department to provide more opportunities for student engagement with modern scientific technology and will help to better prepare our students for success in the workforce post-graduation.