A new high-tech addition to the university allows TCU professors in several departments and colleges to perform important scientific and biomedical research that formerly had to be sent out to a laboratory for testing.

The device, a DNA sequence analyzer, was purchased through Vision in Action’s Strategic Initiative Fund and a grant from medical equipment manufacturer LI-COR. Biology Professor Phil Hartman, who along with College of Science and Engineering Dean Michael McCracken was instrumental in securing the funds, said the sequence analyzer will be a valuable hands-on teaching tool, as well as a recruiting tool to attract more high-quality researchers to the university.

“Obtaining this new equipment is a real coup for our college and TCU as a whole,” Hartman said. “It will allow current and future professors to more readily accomplish their research objectives. It will also impact us as educators, given that the instrumentation will be used in graduate and advanced undergraduate classes.

“Beyond the specifics of DNA sequencing, I think this represents yet another tangible step in Dean McCracken’s ongoing efforts to provide an infrastructure that nurtures the teacher-scholar model.”

Professors in biology, chemistry, nursing and psychology all have plans to use the equipment to further their research. One of those professors is biology Assistant Professor Giri Akkaraju, who will use the analyzer to examine the genetic sequence of the Hepatitis C virus. The research could lead to a way to prevent Hepatitis C and decrease its link to certain cancers.