Facilities and equipment used in the Department of Biosciences
Support for cutting-edge bioscience by enhancing facilities and equipment
In the rapidly advancing world of bioscience, it is very important to improve the research environment. In the Department of Biosciences, we strongly support education and research by enhancing facilities and equipment; culture equipment such as Jar fermentor used for mass cultivation of microorganisms, various analytical equipment such as GC-MS and high performance liquid chromatography, and observation equipment such as laser microdissection and electron microscope.
Culture system
Plant greenhouse
When resercing plant growth, we grow a variety of plants, including genetic variants.
Breeding rack (animal laboratory)
We maintain a constant breeding environment for mice, such as temperature, humidity and lighting (light-dark cycle), and breed genetically modified mice used in research.
Jar fermentor (aeration stirring culture device)
This device is used for mass culture of microorganisms. We can stably cultivate
microorganisms by keeping the culturing conditions constant.
Analytical system
GC-MS
It is used for identification of trace components contained in extracts from living organisms and chemicals, and for quantitative analysis. Since there are various types depending on method when ionizing or detecting the sample, we use them properly according to the purpose and the properties of the sample.
HPLC (High Performance Liquid Chromatography)
It is a device that can handle a wide range of activities such as separation, detection and isolation of active ingredients from cultured microorganisms, or identification and quantification of active ingredients.
Imaging mass spectrometer
It is a device that can directly perform mass spectrometry of tissue sections and creat images of biomolecules based on the obtained information.
DNA sequencer
It is a device that analyzes the base sequence of DNA (A, C, G, T). RNA is examined by converting RNA into DNA.
Real-time PCR
It is a device that can measure the amplification of gene fragments by the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) in real time. It is used for quantitative expression analysis of the target gene.
Mass spectrometer (LC-MS / MS)
It is used for identification of trace components contained in extracts from living organisms and chemicals, and for quantitative analysis. Since there are various types depending on method when ionizing or detecting the sample, we use them properly according to the purpose and the properties of the sample.
NMR (Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Spectroscopy)
By observing signals from the atoms that form substances, we will study the structure and function of molecules such as proteins and nucleic acids.
Electrophysiological analyzer
It is a device that examines the electrical characteristics of nerve cells to analyze brain function. We resarch the cranial neural function of the mouse by piercing the electrodes under a microscope equipped with a near-infrared camera.
Imaging system
Laser microdissection
It is a device that can excise and collect a specific part with a laser while observing a tissue section by the microscope.
Electronic microscope
It is a microscope that have a feature of observeing minute structures that cannot be seen with an optical microscope. By using an electron beam instead of light, it is disassemble about 0.1 nm.
Fluorescence microscope
It is a microscope for observing samples dyed with fluorescent dyes and biological samples containing fluorescent proteins.
Confocal laser scanning microscope
It is an indispensable tool for modern cellular and molecular biology. It can acquire continuous tomogram of samples dyed in high resolution and reconstruct three-dimensional information with computer.
Desktop scanning electronic microscope
We can observe from low magnification to high magnification without complicated pretreatment. It has a cooling stage so we can observe
delicate samples without drying.
Virtual slide scanner
It is used to acquire high-resolution data of tissue samples or frozen samples.
Brain tissue analysis system
It is roughly divided into a brain tissue section preparation device or an all-in-one fluorescence microscope, and is a device that can analyze the entire brain tissue of animals such as mice in high resolution.
Neural activity analysis system
It is a device that can analyze intracellular calcium or protein interactions in real time in high resolution.