DNA lab will create jobs and help solve crime
Jessica Rapp
Issue date: 5/1/08 Section: News
Jayne said a private lab would help public laboratories, such as the Missouri Highway Patrol Lab, to take care of the overflow of need for criminal identification.
"What these guys do most of is take small, biological samples like hair follicles, sperm, skin or one of these things, and they do DNA tests on them," Buckner said. "… And to do those types of tests, you use the same kind of technology that was used to sequence the human genomes and sequence genes in the first place."
Students in the forensics minor and other students and faculty at the University potentially would get hands-on experience with a capillary gel electrophoresis apparatus, the type of equipment used for sequencing and testing DNA, Buckner said. Currently, members of the faculty conducting research that requires this technology send samples to other institutions to maintain cost efficiency, he said.
"They might have anywhere between five or 10 of these apparatuses," Buckner said. "And then they would have a well-trained individual using that, and that's where we get a picture of what's going on and why they think Kirksville is a great place to be."
He said he hopes the University would purchase one from the company to put on campus. Buckner said that as a maize geneticist, the easily accessible technology would be extremely useful for lab research.
"For high school students who interview, it's always nice to be walking by a $100,000 piece of equipment and say, 'Look how impressive this is, we got this technology right here on campus,'" he said. "And it does help you recruit, and having this minor would help us recruit."
Buckner said he looks forward to the potential influence of the DNA lab's interaction with the University, although University officials and faculty members still are working out plans.
"As a community, I think Truman needs to embrace these types of unusual interactions," Buckner said. "… That's becoming more and more common in academia that you have these types of collaborations, and I think that's a step in hopefully an entirely positive direction."
"What these guys do most of is take small, biological samples like hair follicles, sperm, skin or one of these things, and they do DNA tests on them," Buckner said. "… And to do those types of tests, you use the same kind of technology that was used to sequence the human genomes and sequence genes in the first place."
Students in the forensics minor and other students and faculty at the University potentially would get hands-on experience with a capillary gel electrophoresis apparatus, the type of equipment used for sequencing and testing DNA, Buckner said. Currently, members of the faculty conducting research that requires this technology send samples to other institutions to maintain cost efficiency, he said.
"They might have anywhere between five or 10 of these apparatuses," Buckner said. "And then they would have a well-trained individual using that, and that's where we get a picture of what's going on and why they think Kirksville is a great place to be."
He said he hopes the University would purchase one from the company to put on campus. Buckner said that as a maize geneticist, the easily accessible technology would be extremely useful for lab research.
"For high school students who interview, it's always nice to be walking by a $100,000 piece of equipment and say, 'Look how impressive this is, we got this technology right here on campus,'" he said. "And it does help you recruit, and having this minor would help us recruit."
Buckner said he looks forward to the potential influence of the DNA lab's interaction with the University, although University officials and faculty members still are working out plans.
"As a community, I think Truman needs to embrace these types of unusual interactions," Buckner said. "… That's becoming more and more common in academia that you have these types of collaborations, and I think that's a step in hopefully an entirely positive direction."
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