Grant: Research Tools and Instruments - Category 1 (<$150,000)

The UBC Bioimaging Facility (BIF) is a microscopy resource facility with a strong training mandate. We require a cryo-ultramicrotome to improve both biological sample preparation for microscopy and the training of students and faculty at UBC. A cryo-ultramicrotome is specialized for cutting extremely thin slices of frozen biological material but is versatile in that it may also be used for conventionally prepared specimens. It is required for many types of sample preparation for both light microscopy and transmission electron microscopy. The BIF serves as both a service facility to which researchers bring their projects to have our technicians perform the work for them, and a resource facility where researchers come to be trained by our technicians to use the equipment to perform their own research. BIF houses the latest light microscope and transmission electron microscope technology and is experiencing a bottleneck with respect to sample preparation. We currently have one ultramicrotome. A new cryo-ultramicrotome will allow us to expand our current service to more researchers and to allow us to train more students and faculty to perform their own research. As well, a new cryo-ultramicrotome will expand our current expertise with respect to the growing field of imaging frozen biological samples. These samples are preserved in their native state without being subject to chemical fixatives and therefore the samples are artifact-free. BIF currently houses some of the latest technology for imaging frozen samples and the BIF staff are international known for their expertise in this field. A new cryo-ultramicrotome in the BIF will reinforce and enhance our expertise and augment research output at UBC.