Biology encompasses many scales of study, ranging from the atomic interactions
of molecules to the interactions among populations of species. Genomics
studies are a recent expansion of the scale of molecular biology, reflecting
our desire to understand how genes and their products interact as a system,
using tools capable of measuring many components of the genome simultaneously.
The Penn Molecular Profiling Facility provides instrumentation and expertise for DNA and RNA profiling.
Microarrays and other highly parallel technologies provide the means for measuring the identity and abundance of DNA and RNA for targeted genes, or the whole genome,
in a biological sample. The Facility supports microarrays from Affymetrix, Agilent and Illumina, as well as assays for Sequenom, Luminex, Fluidigm and TaqMan.
This reflects our goal of offering a range of cost and performance options suitable for a variety of experimental questions.
The molecular diagnosis and genotyping services provide molecular biology assays to basic and clinical research investigators.
Molecular assays are critical to many aspects of basic, clinical, and population research, including molecular stratification of patients entering clinical protocols,
molecular epidemiological and pharmacogenetic studies, as well as longitudinal follow-up of patients in clinical investigations.
Since molecular technologies and instrumentation are evolving rapidly, the centralization of molecular testing services within this core facilitates
utilization of leading-edge molecular analyses by the investigators. Because some assays are used for clinical decisions during clinical trials,
tests are meticulously designed and performed with strict attention to the prevention of polymerase chain reaction (PCR) contamination.
The Facility is a fully equipped molecular biology laboratory staffed by experienced individuals in developing and performing molecular biological assays.
While the Facility staff performs most of the assays, investigator-performed studies are actively encouraged through the sharing of Facility procedures,
individualized training of investigators or their technical staff, and use of core equipment.
The Facility Director and the Technical Director are available to talk with investigators to explore how the services of the facility can enhance or design their
specific research projects. We invite investigators to meet with us in the planning stages of their studies, especially before grant submissions, to discuss services
that the core can provide, such as budget information and a description of the core for the resources section of the grant, as well as to plan collection and handling
of the specimens for the study. The Facility is happy to custom design assays to fit an investigator's needs.
To inquire about the services of the Facility, contact Drs. Tapan Ganguly at gangulyt@pennmedicine.upenn.edu,
or Hetty Rodriguez at hettymr@pennmedicine.upenn.edu.
Penn Molecular Profiling Facility
Facility laboratories
57 and 68 John Morgan Building
University of Pennsylvania
3620 Hamilton Walk
Philadelphia, PA 19104-4283
| Phone: | 215-746-5432 (genotyping) |
| 215-573-6316 (microarrays) |
| Fax: | 215-573-4452 |
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