In a cooperative effort, the University of Nebraska at Omaha(UNO) and the University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC) have implemented an innovative biotechnology program to provide state of the art experience in molecular biology to undergraduate students. A rigorous laboratory curriculum includes a Biotechnology internship where students will join a molecular biology research laboratory at UNO or UNMC for one semester. The cornerstones of this program are two newly designed lecture and laboratory courses, Virology and Molecular Genetics, at UNO. The requested equipment will enable the program to add new experiments critical to the Biotechnology degree to each of the courses. The major equipment items to be acquired include: a floor model ultracentrifuge and rotors; a microcentrifuge; an electrophoresis power supply, an electrophoresis apparatus for sequencing; a hybridization chamber; a pressure blotting system; a UV-crosslinking apparatus; an electroblotting system; adjustable micropipettes and a Geiger-Muller radiation monitor. These additions will substantially improve the molecular biology curriculum at UNO and thereby facilitate the full implementation of the new Biotechnology degree program.
