We have our own study participant facility, storeroom, office space, meeting space, two computer laboratories, and a BSL2+ laboratory. In addition to our personal 24TB server that backs up everything nightly with a RAID 1+0 configuration, uninterruptable power supplies on all cold storage equipment and computers, and a dedicated security camera system.
Sample/reagent storage and organization is provided by:
1. Four Thermo TSX -80 freezers
one Revco -20 enzyme freezer, and one Revco chromatography (double-wide) refrigerator
2.
Basic equipment includes:
1. Two Nuaire Class II A2 Biological safety cabinets
2. Barnstead Micropure UV/UF water purification system
3. Fisher waterbaths with Lab Armour beads
4. Mettler Toledo XS2002s and XS205 balances
5. Beckman Avanti J-26XPI centrifuge with multiple rotors
6. Beckman 22R microcentrifuges
7. Eppendorf electronic Repeater Stream dispensers (2) and electronic Xplorer pipettes (8)
Specialized sample preparation equipment includes:
1. Retsch Mixer Mill MM400 with stainless steel grinding jars and balls
2. Thermo Savant SpeedVac SPB1010 evaporator system
3. Fisher incubating shakers
4. Eppendorf Mixmate shakers and Thermomixer C controlled temperature mixers
ELISA equipment includes:
1. Bio-Tek Epoch2 spectrophotometer
2. Bio-Tek 405 Touch microplate washer with ultrasonic cleaning and biomagnetic separation carrier
Microbiology/parasitology equipment includes:
1. Thermo Accuspin 24C centrifuge
2. Hirayama Hiclave HG-50 autoclave dedicated for agar preparation
4. UVP Colony Doc-It imaging system for counting bacteria colonies
Cell culture equipment includes:
3. Thermo Hera VIOS copper-lined C02 incubator
4. Bio-Rad TC20 cell counter
5. Biocision Thawstar automated thawing system
Sequencing/expression equipment includes:
1. Two Sorvall Legend Micro21 microcentrifuges
3. Thermo Qubit flurometric quantitation system
4. Bio-Tek Take3 microvolume analyzer
5. Eppendorf Mastercycler Pro S gradient thermal cycler
6. Bio-Rad CFX96 realtime PCR detection system
Qualitative data collection equipment includes:
1. iMotions software for facial expression analysis (Emotient) and remote eye tracking with Shimmer 3 GSR system for measuring arousal
2. Speech Exec Pro dictation and transcription system by Philips
3. Two Zivelo C6 floorstanding kiosks with touchscreens and Mac mini computers
4. Ten iPad Air tablets
Physical measurement equipment includes:
1. Seca scale and stadiometer
2. Lange skinfold calipers
3. Tanita BC418 segmental body composition analyzer
4. Ten Actical accelerometers
5. Mitutoyo digital calipers
Capabilities:
Measuring arousal and emotional affect through eye tracking and galvanic skin response
Steroids in hair samples
Hormones in blood, saliva, urine, and feces
Segmental body composition
Preparation of samples for next generation sequencing
Automated nucleic acid purification
Gene SNP analyses and expression
A variety of functional immunological measures, including lymphocyte proliferation with subsequent cytokine excretion, bacteria killing assays, hemolytic complement assays, specializing in measures in saliva and urine.
Electronic pipetting means our CVs are lower.
Samples are secured and organized using the latest methods.
There does not exist a more capable and equipped laboratory in evolutionary anthropology, anywhere. We embrace a mix of quantitative and qualitative data collection, measurement, and analysis methods. Questions in human biology, primatology, conservation medicine, evolutionary endocrinology, and ecological immunology are answered here.
Please contact Dr. Muehlenbein for access to developed protocols on:
- Bacteria killing assay for use with human saliva
- Bacteria killing assay for use with human serum
- Bacteria killing assay for use with macaque serum
- Bacteria killing assay for use with orangutan serum
- Hemolytic complement assay for use with human serum
- Hemolytic complement assay for use with macaque serum
- Hemolytic complement assay for use with orangutan serum
- Lymphocyte proliferation assay for use with human PBMCs
- Lymphocyte proliferation assay for use with macaque PBMCs
- Glucocorticoid metabolite assay for use with primate feces
Laboratory for Evolutionary Medicine 