Skip to content

Facilities

MBSE faculty, students and researchers have access to some of the newest technology and equipment available.

Stem Cell Instrumentation Foundry

This facility provides the tools for device fabrication such as a contact aligner, atomic layer deposition and profilometer.

Imaging Microscopy Facility

Advanced imaging instruments such as Zeiss Gemini 500 scanning electron microscope with sub nanometer resolution, JEOL JR-2010 high-resolution transmission electron microscope and X-ray diffractometry (PANalytical X’Pert PRO Theta/Theta X-ray Diffraction).

Molecular Characterization Facility

The Molecular Characterization Facility houses several major instruments, including 400 MHz, 500 MHz and 600 MHz NMR spectrometers, a Horiba Fluorolog 3 fluorimeter, a Bruker Vertex 70 FT-IR spectrometer with a diamond crystal ATR accessory, a high resolution Thermo Electron Exactive Plus LC-MS for detecting small molecules, and a Q Exactive quadrupole Orbitrap LC-MS for high resolution detection of macromolecules.

Environmental Analytical Lab

Researchers can search for major and trace elements, selected chemical species and nutrients and organic compounds.

Computational Biology Facilities

  • 32-processor Opteron Linux Cluster with Gigibit Ethernet interconnect switch

  • Chemical simulation packages including Gaussian, AMBER, and CHARMM

Genomics

  • 16 capillary ABI 3130XL sequencer

  • Agilent bioanalyzer

  • Nanodrop

  • Real-time thermal cyclers

  • High-speed centrifuges

  • Digital imaging systems for visualization of DNA and protein gels

  • Microarray Core Facility (planned)

Microscopy/Histology

  • Fluorescence Microscopes with digital cameras

  • Electron Microscopy Core Facility (includes scanning and transmission electron microscopy)

  • Confocal Microscope

  • Microtome, Cryostat, Paraffin Embedding Station

Hormone and other biochemical analyses

  • Gamma counter for 125I RIA and other gamma-radionuclide emission protocols

  • Multi-functional plate analyzer capable of absorbance, fluorescence, fluorescence polarization, and luminescence

  • Hitachi autoanalyzer capable of over 100 biochemical analyses from serum/plasma, urine and media including electrolytes, glucose, lipids, total protein, host of enzymes, creatinine, and urea

Flow Cytometry

  • Becton Dickinson FACSAria High Speed Cell Sorter with ACDU option to allow for sorting into plates or slides

  • Guava Technologies EasyCyte Flow Cytometry Analyzer

  • BD LSR II System: Four-laser, 18-color benchtop flow cytometer

Proteomics

  • Mass spectrometer

  • MNR

Biotelemetry

  • For conscious, continuous and unrestrained cardiovascular monitoring of small animals

Small Animal Facility

  • Rodent housing for both conventional and isolation cage units

  • Cesium Irradiator

MERCED Cluster

The MERCED cluster (Multi-Environment Research Computer for Exploration and Discovery) is a shared resource for UC Merced researchers, performing calculations such as electronic, optical, and mechanical simulations of materials. This Linux cluster from Advanced Clustering Technologies was funded by an NSF Major Research Instrumentation grant. There are 76 compute nodes with a total of 1892 cores at 2301 MHz, plus 6 GPU nodes, running nVidia K20 graphics cards. Total capacity is 38 TFLOPS. The machine is connected to UC Merced’s Science DMZ network and the Pacific Research Platform for 10-100 Gbps connection to other research universities.