9318891 Taylor The vision of the Center for Light Microscope Imaging andBiotechnology (CLMIB) is that understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of fundamental biological processes is within reach during the next decade. This will be made possible by integration of three major tools: biochemistry, molecular biology/genetics, and optical techniques which allow exploration of the in vivo dynamics of cell structure and chemistry. The third of these is the focus of the Center. The Center's strengths are in development of, a) novel reagents for detecting, measuring and manipulating the chemical and molecular components of cells, b) new and integrated modalities of light microscopy to detect and measure temporal and spatial changes in cell structure and chemistry, and c) advanced computing methods to record, analyze, display and model complex imaging data. Technique and instrument development is driven by the needs of biological research to answer basic questions in cell and developmental biology, and by emerging applications in biotechnology. The Center's research and training activities are organized into programs in Cell Biology, Developmental Biology, Applied Biotechnology, Fluorescence-Based Reagents, Machine-Vision Microscopy, 3-D Microscopy, Advanced Image Analysis, and Automated Interactive Microscopy. Twenty-five faculty from 6 departments and 26 graduate students from 7 departments are now working on research projects that involve collaborations between biologists, chemists, physicists, engineers and computer scientists. Direct or indirect support from the Center has resulted in 162 publications. A new interdisciplinary course, Applications of Fluorescence Spectroscopy in Biological Research, was initiated, and a biotechnology training laboratory is being constructed for this and related courses. Other knowledge transfer activities include organizing two conferences, supporting a general-use imaging laboratory for outside researchers, and cr eating a scientist exchange program with industrial collaborators. Transfer of technology occurs through interactions with 14 corporations that license the Center's technology and/or collaborate on research projects. These corporations include multi-nationals such as Dupont, Kodak, Carl Zeiss and Procter and Gamble, as well as biotechnology start-ups such as Biological Detection Systems, One-Cell Systems and Cadus Pharmaceuticals. Two new corporations have already been formed in Western Pennsylvania based on technology transfer from the STC. Two patents have issued from Center research, 4 patents have been submitted, and 27 disclosures have been submitted to the University. The STC is involved in two major K-12 outreach projects: a) a group of high school students and teachers worked with the Center for 6 weeks in the summer in a program called "Careers in Applied Science and Technology (CAST), and b) the Center is collaborating with the Carnegie Science Center in Pittsburgh and the Studio of Creative Inquiry at Carnegie Mellon University to produce a planetarium show called "Journey to the Center of the Cell". This project will use advanced visualization technologies, based on work in the Center, to educate the general public, particularly young students, about scientific discovery and the biology of the living cell.***
