Constructed in 2016, the Nutritional & Microbial Ecology Laboratory provides state-of-the-art facilities and instruments for the analysis of nutritional biochemistry, human/animal/microbial physiology, and microbial ecology. Our 1,627 ft2 ADA-compliant facilities include 8 desks and 1 private office, 10 dedicated bench workstations, 2 chemical hoods, heat-shielded and draft-shielded zones, dedicated darkenable rooms for anaerobic culturing and PCR, a separate cold room (4°C), and shared access to glass wash and autoclave facilities. Our instrumentation for nutritional biochemistry allows for the analysis of dietary protein, lipid, carbohydrate (sugar, starch, insoluble and soluble fiber), ash, and moisture. Our instrumentation for physiology permits analysis of metabolic rate by open-flow and closed-system respirometry, nutrient intake by perfusion, body composition by magnetic resonance imaging, and physiological cell staining. Our instrumentation for microbial ecology enables anaerobic and aerobic culturing, assessment of point-in-time and kinetic growth, quantitative PCR, and DNA and RNA sequencing.
Beyond our walls, we benefit from rodent housing and procedure rooms in specific pathogen-free and gnotobiotic facilities, as well as the combined capabilities of multiple Harvard Core resources, including the Bauer Core, Harvard Center for Biological Imaging, and FAS Research Computing.
