The Neurogenomics Center

Recent advances, which include the sequencing of entire genomes of selected model systems and the ability to survey "genome-wide" patterns of gene expression, now allow the dissection of biological processes at unprecedented levels of detail. The Neurogenomics Center was established to allow Berkeley neuroscientists to exploit these profound advances in "functional genomics" technologies. In particular, this facility provides the infrastructure for the performance of DNA microarray experiments, which allow the analysis of mRNA expression from tens of thousands of genes at a time. The Neurogenomics Center has already created DNA microarrays from ~30,000 non-redundant mouse cDNAs and ~12,000 Drosophila genes. By the end of 2000, we expect to have completed the fabrication of new microarrays containing ~15,000 additional mouse cDNAs, ~25,000 non-redundant cDNAs from the zebrafish, and all ~19,000 open reading frames from the worm, C. elegans.

Major Equipment: The facility currently possesses all the equipment needed to perform custom microarray experi ments. Equipment in the facility is being continuously updated to meet the demands of this rapidly evolving technology. At the present time, the major pieces of instrumentation in use in the Neurogenomics Center include: two microarraying robots capable of arraying 20,000 spots on a microscope slide at the rate of ~10,000 spots per day on 137 slides each; a GSI ScanArray 3000 mi croarray scanner (for reading microarrays); an Axon Instruments 4000A microarray scanner; software for gene chip and expression profile analyses; a Beckman Biomek 2000 8-channel fluidics robot (for handling microarray probe preparation); a Beckman Multim ek 96-pin fluidics robot (for high-throughput microarray probe preparation); eight Perkin-Elmer 9700 PCR machines (for PCR ampl ification of DNA inserts in microarray probe preparation); centrifuges for high-throughput processing of DNA samples for microa rray fabrication; various gel electrphoresis equipment (for quality control of microarray probe preparation); a LI-COR Model 4200 automated DNA sequencer, capable of providing up to 64,000 bp of sequence data per day; dedicated computers for data analysis and storage of informatics databases.