Research Core Facilities
The Cell and Immunobiology Core Facility provides custom production of monoclonal antibodies, flow cytometric services, and tissue culture reagents. The Core is located in the Medical Sciences Building.
Charles W. Gehrke Proteomics Center
The Proteomics Center provides synthesizes custom peptides, sequences proteins, and provides HPLC and capillary electrophoretic analyses. The core is located in the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center.
The DNA Core provides services in DNA sequencing, DNA fragment analysis, genotyping, genomic variation analysis, and gene expression. The DNA Core also maintains the campus Enzyme Freezer Program, which contains an extensive inventory of restriction enzymes, PCR and qPCR reagents, DNA and RNA purification kits, and various chemicals and biochemicals. Robotic instrumentation also is available for high throughput plasmid isolation, colony picking, and genomic library management. The core is located in the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center.
Informatics Research Core Facility
The Informatics Research Core Facility serves the bioinformatics needs of researchers at MU. It provides custom web-enabled software development, analysis of high-throughput data, and assembly and annotation of genome-wide sequence data. The core is located in the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center.
The Molecular Cytology Core is a resource for all types of light microscopy, immunocytochemistry, in situ hybridization techniques, and general scientific image analysis and processing. Instrumentation available for client use includes two confocal microscopes, micro-injection system, epi-fluorescence stereoscope, conventional wide-field microscopes, paraffin microtome, cryostat, and ultramicrotome. The core is located in the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Core
The Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Core provides equipment maintenance and infrastructure support of research projects that require NMR or for investigators who want to use NMR for structural elucidation and study of chemical and biological reactions. Instrumentation at the Nuclear Magnetic Resonance Core facility includes an 800 MHz NMR spectrometer. The core is located in the Chemistry Building and Schweitzer Hall.
The Electron Microscopy Core supports research that requires scanning or transmission electron microscopy. Services include scanning and transmission electron microscopy, immunoelectron microscopy, x-ray microanalysis, digital imaging and analysis, and preparation of materials and biological specimens. The core is located in the Veterinary Medicine Building.
The Molecular Interactions Core provides instrumentation and faculty assistance with crystallography, dynamic light scattering, NMR, and peptide synthesis. Researchers who understand the important link between macromolecular structure and function can explore how to get structural information on proteins of interest and which method is best for their needs. The core is located in the Christopher S. Bond Life Sciences Center.
The Animal Modeling Core provides many services, including but not limited to chromosome counting, generation of transgenic mice using client’s DNA, and genotyping assays. The laboratory facilities include dedicated laboratories for cell culture and micromanipulation. The core is located in the RADIL Building.
Plant Growth Facilities
Ernie and Lotti Sears Plant Growth Facility
The Ernie and Lotti Sears Plant Growth Facility contains 12 greenhouses, walk-in growth chambers, and a long-term seed storage in rooms for the preservation of genetic resources. It is also home to the Plant Transformation Core facility.
East Campus Plant Growth Research Facility
The East Campus Plant Growth Research Facility was opened in 2019. This facility, which is walking distance from central campus, includes 24 greenhouses, including two extra tall ones, 27 growth chambers, cold seed storage rooms, a seed drying room, potting rooms, root washing and seed shelling areas, and a community shared lab for short-term work.
The Plant Transformation Core assists with plant tissue culture and transformation of soybean, maize, switchgrass, sorghum, tobacco, and Arabidopsis. The core is located in the Sears Plant Growth Facility.
Agricultural Experiment Station
The Agricultural Experiment Station operates a system of farms, centers, and forests around the state to meet the regional research and demonstration needs of agricultural producers and natural resource managers.
Computational Resources
Lewis High Performance Computing (HPC) Cluster
The Lewis cluster is a High Performance Computing (HPC) cluster that as of 2019 consists of 232 compute nodes and 6200 compute cores with around 1.5 PB of storage. The cluster serves on average 165 active users per month with about 3.3 million core hours of compute. The cluster is operated by the Research Computing Support Services (RCSS) group, which provides computing support, training, and consulting to the MU research community.