Facilities

The University of Tennessee, Knoxville (UTK) is the State of Tennessee's land grant institution and is the state's largest comprehensive public research institution. Currently, UTK enrolls approximately 20,400 students of which 6,000 are actively pursuing graduate degrees. The CEB was established in 1986 by the Tennessee Higher Education Commission and a $1,000,000 equipment grant from the United States Department of Education to provide multidisciplinary graduate and undergraduate training in Environmental Biotechnology. The CEB occupies 26,000 square feet of laboratory space in the University of Tennessee's state-of-the-art Science and Engineering Research Facility located on the main University campus. Extensive specialized microbial and chemical analytical equipment is available for CEB researchers. In addition to standard laboratory equipment, some of the specialized equipment available for use includes: 

• Hewlett-Packard 6890 Gas Chromatograph with HP5973Mass Spectrometer
• Hewlett Packard 5890 Gas Chromatograph with ECD and FID
• Spark Holland Solid Phase Extractor
• Hewlett-Packard 5890 with Thermal Conductivity Detector
• Thermo Finnegan DecaQ LCMS
• Varian LCMS
• CEM Microwave Accelerated Reaction System
• Biotek Synergy 2 Microtiter Plate Reader
• Perkin-Elmer Victor2 1420 Multilabel Counter
• IVIS Lumina Imaging System
• Asylum Molecular Force Probe Atomic Force Microscope MFP30-IO
• Hamamatsu Photon Counting Camera
• Packard Instruments Flow Scintillation Analyzer
• Packard TriCarb 2900TR Scintillation Counter
• Perkin-Elmer LS55 Fluorescence Spectrophotometer
• Beckman FXL Automated Liquid Handling System
• MJ Research Opticon and Chromophore Real-time PCR Machine
• ESI SDDC-2 Robotic Microarrayer
• GSI Microarray Fluorescent Scanner
• BSL2 Bacterial Transfer Room
• Tissue Culture Room
• Various bioreactors and support equipment
• CEM Microwave Accelerated Reaction System

Additional Campus Facilities

Molecular Biology Resources Facility

The University of Tennessee maintains its own DNA sequencing facility. The MBRF is a self-supporting core facility specializing in the analysis of DNA using Applied Biosystems’ 3730 and 3100 capillary electrophoresis DNA analyzers. Services provided include:

• Full service sequencing
• Load-only sequencing
• Discount 96 well tray Load Only
• Gene Scan
• Primer design / analysis
• DNA Quantification

Affymetrix Core Facility

The University of Tennessee maintains an Affymetrix Core Facility, a user fee facility catering to in-house and local users. Using Affymetrix Gene Expression GeneChips, investigators are able to examine differential gene expression in a wide variety of cell types and tissues. The UTK Affymetrix Core has the latest Affymetrix Gene Chip Instrumentation including a Gene Chip 640 Hybridization Oven, a Gene chip 450 Fluidics Station and a GeneChip 7G Scanner. The Facility also has an Agilent 2100 Bioanalyzer and a Nanodrop Spectrophotometer.

Joint Institute for Biological Sciences

The Joint Institute for Biological Sciences (JIBS) is a 34,000 square foot core research facility located on the Oak Ridge National Laboratory campus with capabilities encompassing gene expression, proteomics, mutagenesis, microbial growth, protein interactions, imaging and analytical technologies, and computing and bioinformatics. It is outfitted with all necessary basic equipment needed for genomic (454 Life Sciences Sequencer), microbial (biosafety level 2 labs, shakers, bench incubators, walk-in incubators, waterbaths, autoclaves, sterile hoods, ultralow freezers, etc.) and analytical (GC/LC/MS) experimentation. A Computational Biology Institute, a mouse genetics research user facility, a microarray user facility, an electron microscope user facility (TEM, SEM, STEM), a nanotechnology user facility, and world-class high performance computing capabilities are located within walking distance. Machine shop and electronics fabrication/repair services are additionally available on-site. Specialized equipment available at JIBS includes:

• Genomic FLX Pyrosequencer (454 Life Sciences)
• NimbleGen 12 bay Hybridization unit
• Molecular Devices GenePix 4200AL 4 CLR microarray scanner
• Agilent 5975C GC/MS
• Dionex Ulti Mate HPLC
• Waters Synapt High Definition Mass Spec.
• Applied Biosystems/MDS Sciex API 4000QTrap LC/MS/MS
• Thermo-Fisher LTQ-Orbitrap ETD Mass Spectrometer
• Thermo-Fisher LTQ-XL ETD Mass Spectrometer

Bioimaging and Electron Microscopy

The facility serves a campus wide support group for electron, optical, and scanned probe microscopies, and for microanalysis. In addition, the facility offers courses on the physical principles and applications of microscopy. Equipment housed in this facility includes:

• Hitachi S-800 SEM Scanning Electron Microscope
• Hitachi S-3200 SEM Scanning Electron Microscope
• Hitachi H-600 TEM Transmission Electron Microscope
• Hitachi H-800 TEM Transmission Electron Microscope
• Burleigh Scanning Tunneling Microscope
• Noran Confocal Tandem Scanning Light Microscope
• Leitz Optical Microscope
   

Biology Services Facility

The Biology Service Facility provides scientific instrument services for the Biology faculty and staff in the College of Liberal Arts, but is often able to deliver services to other segments of the University community. Services offered include repair of electronic equipment, certification of biological transfer hoods, instrument development, computer hardware and software development, machining and mechanical services, refrigeration maintenance and development, and specialized woodworking services.