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Welcome to the Center for Molecular Biology at Smith College!

The Center for Molecular Biology (CMB) is a unique facility that was established in the fall of 2002 with funding provided by Smith College and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.  The CMB main suite in Ford Hall 123 houses of state-of-the-art molecular biology instrumentation for use by the Smith community. Instructional support and expertise from the Center’s Director, Riccardo Racicot is available to all Smith students, faculty, and staff.  The goal of the CMB is to provide first-class support for molecular biology research, training, and education to all that are interested, in the Smith community. To ensure this goal is met, we use an approach that allows users to actually have their hands on the instruments.

The CMB is focused on the following three topics:

Facility Services and Consulting

The CMB provides DNA Sanger Sequencing and Fragment Analysis services. Instrumentation and support for Next Generation Sequencing, Digital and qRT-PCR, Spectrophotometry, Fluorimetry, Flow Cytometry, Gel and Blot Imagery and more are available and accessible to all Smith students, faculty, and staff. Please refer to our ‘Services” and  ‘Equipment’ pages for more information.

In addition to the facility services, faculty and students can receive assistance in experimental design and troubleshooting upon request. All you have to do is ask!

Training and Education

The CMB provides technical support in molecular biology and bioinformatics to the Smith community. Individualized training is always available upon request. No projects are too large or too small. Let’s work together to make science happen!

 

Collaboration

The CMB acts as a center of intellectual exchange for Smith’s community of scientists and serves to promote collaboration and multidisciplinary approaches to specific research initiatives. The CMB supports all majors and disciplines, including but not limited to; Biology, Biochemistry, Chemistry, Neuroscience, Engineering, Geosciences, and Exercise & Sports Studies.

This website is intended to inform you and make it easier for you to communicate with us. Visit often to take advantage of upcoming events. Any suggestions to help us improve the development of the CMB are welcome.  Just email Riccardo Racicot at rracicot@smith.edu.