Our GE Typhoon FLA 7000 Biomolecular Imager is much more than a simple phosphorimager. It provides the center members (and non-center members) a rapid method of scanning not only phosphor screens (as the name implies) but also any gels and blots labeled with fluorescent molecules. It can also quantify intensities of non-fluorescent stains such as Coomassie Brilliant Blue and Silver Stain. Equipped with 4 powerful lasers (473 nm blue laser, 532 nm green laser, 635 nm and 650 nm red lasers), the instrument offers pixel resolutions down to 25 microns and a 5 order of magnitude dynamic range, with adjustable detector gain. It is also very fast, compared with other Typhoon models. Medium size gels or phosphor plates can be scanned in only 2.5 minutes.
Designing DNA Origami Nanoparticles
One example of a project that benefits from the capabilities of our Typhoon Imager comes from the lab of CEHS member Mark Bathe. The Bathe lab is very interested in leveraging the self-assembly properties of nucleic acids, such as DNA and RNA, to engineer revolutionary new materials at the nanoscale level. This work involves the synthesis and characterization of a large number of short “staple” oligonucleotides, as well as the characterization of the self-assembled nanoparticles, that can be programmed to take almost any geometric shape. All these steps that deal with visualizing and characterizing small oligos and nano constructs were enabled by the CEHS Typhoon Imager. More information on the Typhoon Imager can be found here.