DIY with a goal !
Basic lab of "risk group 1 - RG1" category which is the Canadian equivalent of Biosafety Level 1 BSL-1 lab. We take safety very seriously. We think Canadian regulation is adequate, necessary and facilitates research. Participant waver agreement.
The lab is used for many activities including events, demonstrations, workshops and community research and personal project research.
Most events and workshops use our lab or equipment from our lab. Pretty much all the events and workshops are open to members and external community. Small group and personal projects lab use are open to members only.
Anybody can become a member and requires no prior experience.
Please send us an email using the about page if you want to become a member and we will send you updated details.
CURRENT LAB INVENTORY
Lab Equipment
Please be advised this list is not maintained very often and in general we have more devices than listed below. Not all devices are always available, they can be at capacity, in repair, out etc.
Devices
5+ Electrophoresis boxes + power supplies + transilluminators for SYBR green
1 Large capacity vertical electrophoresis box
Fridge and several enzyme coolers to protect enzymes from defrost cycle
1 Large incubator
3 - 6 plates personal size incubators
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1 Shaker incubator
1 Shaker
2 Optical density meters. Our own Open Source/Hardware design and manufacture so we can make as many as we need
1 spectrometer
1 water bath
2 pressure cookers as autoclaves
2x30 Watt UV light for sterilization
Sterilization and UV enclosure
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2 Eppendorf centrifuges-Eppendorf 5415C Centrifuge
2 Eppendorf PCR machines-Eppendorf 5333 MasterCycler PCR Thermal Cycler 96-Well Block
2 wave bioreactors
1 vortex
2 pipette stands and pipette sets
microscope
20+ flasks ranging from 50 ml to 2 l
Dewar for cryogenic storage in liquid nitrogen capable of -90 Celsius
1 LAMP device (on loan)
10 + tube racks of different sizes - we can always print of cut more
large capacity short path distillation equipment and also diverse glassware
large oven/kiln capable of melting glass, metals etc. Can be used for microfluidics layer fusion or metal/glass casting
Equipment for creating, and repairing molecular bio lab devices
3 CNC machines (1 60x40 and 2 40x18)
1 3D printer that can be used for custom devices
free access to a laser cutter not located on premises
free access to a programmable metal plasma cutter not located on premises
1 full electronics lab that includes a Tektronix dual channel oscilloscope
welding equipment
Lab plastic consumables
500 plastic 9 cm petri dishes
50 2 ml tubes
200 10 ml conical tubes
200 50 ml conical tubes
500+ centrifuge tubes
100 2ml enzyme tubes
500+ PCR tubes
10 glass cuvettes
10 glass Petri dishes
6 boxes of pipette tips of 3 sizes
10+ 96 well plates
30+ 25 square cm tissue culture treated flasks
Other consumables
Most FreeGenes distribution kits
Most common e-coli strains (DE5A, BL21 etc) and plasmids, fu-GFP, vibrio fischeri bioluminescent, chromoproteins
Taq polymerase and RT Mash-up plasmids in inducible systems
pfu-sso polymerase in inducible systems
Enzymes, mini preps, columns, other reagents quantities and types are in constant flux and are not counted in here Note: generally we have more tools and capabilities than the ones listed here so please inquire directly via the contact us form.
Depending on the lab activity prior introduction to lab techniques is necessary.
That is done by a resource that have used the equipment.
Regardless of who is using the lab reading and following biosafety standards is mandatory. Biosafety Standards
They are published on the home page.
Personal or small group project
After registering as member please contact us via Contact us page with all the details necessary including relevant papers. You will receive a welcome email that will tell you how to submit your project for safety review and how to train in the necessary lab techniques.
Before working in the lab you must receive approval from the safety committee for your project and pass the safety test.
