New OSU Lab ‘Opens for Business' in the Tech Park
The OSU Microscopy Laboratory—the latest addition to the suite of OSU labs located at Venture I in the Oklahoma Technology and Research Park —officially opened for business in April 2006. The lab houses both scanning and electron microscopes equipped with digital and X-ray analysis capabilities, plus a confocal microscope. The new full-service laboratory will offer a broad range of services for university and industrial clients.
Charlotte Ownby, director, says she's excited about the opportunity to set up a new state-of-the-art microscopy laboratory at the Tech Park . She retired from OSU recently and relocated the microscopy laboratory she originally established on campus in 1977. The transmission electron microscope she purchased for the new lab with a $750,000 National Science Foundation grant allows higher resolution for researchers who want to look inside cells or work in nanotechnology.
According to Ownby, the biggest difference in the new electron microscope from other microscopes is the ability to look at the structure of a sample. You can look at very small samples and characterize the composition. The resolution of the new microscope is sub-nano, so you can look at protein structure, molecules and DNA. There is only one microscope with a higher resolution and Ownby says she hopes to acquire it with another NSF grant.
Ownby explains that the new electron microscope and associated cryoequipment will allow researchers to do work they have never been able to do before. The new cryoequipment freezes the samples and preserves them closer to their natural state. The techniques we've been using in the past alter the structure of the samples because they are preserved with chemicals. The technique of the future is the freezing technology.
Ownby says Venture I is a great location for the new lab since Nomadics is already a client. The lab will meet the needs of so many more people by moving to the Tech Park . FES, another Stillwater firm, has confirmed they will use the lab for a scanning electron microscopy project. Tours of the lab are available upon request and a list of services and prices is available at http://microscopy.okstate.edu.
