Laboratory Facilities available at DESC
The DESC-lab is located at the Vrije
Universiteit (VU)
in Amsterdam. We can make use of the regular labs of the depertment of Oral
Cell Biology (OCB) from ACTA who kindly provides us this hospitality. In the
lab we have the following gravitational research facilities:
- MidiCAR
cell and tissue culture centrifuge
- Random Positioning Machine (RPM)
- Small Bench-top Clinostat
DESC provides access to associated facilities for acceleration and astrobiology
research not located at the Free University such as:
- Free Fall Machine (FFM)
(at University of Amsterdam)
- Large diameter animal
centrifuge (University of Amsterdam, Academic Medical Center (AMC))
- Large diameter human
rated centrifuge (Aeromedical Institute, Soesterberg)
- Levitation magnet
(University Nijmegen)
- Interstellar Environment OSIC
(University Leiden)
DESC provides direct access to the following facilities at the Vrije Universiteit:
- General research lab
- Dedicated cell and tissue culture
lab and infrastructure (incubators, flow-benches, etc.)
- Various microscope systems: brightfield,
darkfield, phase contrast, fluorescence, inverted, polarization, video, stereo
/ photo, image analysis, etc.
- Light microscopic and Electron
microscopic preparation facilities: embedding, standard LM and EM microtomes,
rotating saw-blade microtome, staining techniques, etc.
- Fluorescent microscopy / image
analyis system
- Atomic Absorption analysis
- Specific ion measurements
- Various gel electrophoresis setups
- Fluid Shear Stress experiment
setup
- Standard molecular biology techniques
- Material sciences: e.g. biocompatibility
testing
Through embedding in associated research labs, DESC has access to e.g.:
- Radio-nuclear research facilities
(Class-B status)
- Dedicated molecular biology lab
(RT-PCR, various blot techniques etc.)
- Dedicated biochemistry lab (HPLC,
Capilary Electrophoresis, Elisa etc.)
- Dedicated microbiology lab
- Specialized light microscope and
image analysis facilities: CLSM, IBAS, etc.
- Electron microscopes: TEM, SEM,
AEM, element analysis
- Animal research facilities
- Central sterilization facilities
- Connections with the Academic
Hospital e.g. for in vivo testing / evaluations / consultancy
Main lab |
Cell / tissue culture lab |