CGC Mission and Policies
Purpose
The purpose of the Comparative Genomics Center is to enable researchers in the Biology Department to utilize molecular techniques by providing a facility where students and other researchers can use modern automated high-throughput molecular biology equipment that would normally be too expensive for most individual labs to afford. The center is staffed full time and is operating as a cost center as of 7/1/2007. Off-campus and commercial entities can also use the facilities and be invoiced for the costs. Facility users must provide the consumable supplies used in their own experiments. The primary role of the center director is to maintain the facility and equipment and provide training for users of the facility. The director can provide some aid and practical advice to users. Experimental design, execution, and quality of data generated are the sole responsibility of the facility users.
Policies
User Responsibilities 1. Laboratory users should familiarize
themselves with the CGC policies, which are listed below.
2. If you sign up for time on a machine, please be on
time. As the demand for use of the equipment increases it may
eventually
become necessary to place limits on how late you can be before your
time slot is passed on to someone else.
3. It is the user's responsibility to understand the
protocols they are running on equipment in the center. The
center director will answer your questions about how things work, but
it is ultimately up to the user to troubleshoot their own experiments.
4. The software used by equipment in the center can be
somewhat complicated. Manuals or training CD's are available for
these software packages. The center director will explain the
basics of using the software during a user's initial training on a
piece of equipment. It is up to the user to invest the time
necessary to become proficient with the software.
The Comparative Genomics Center began operating as a Cost Center on 7/1/2007. New rates went into effect on that date. There is no charge for hourly use of the center. The primary instruments, such as the ABI Genetic Analyzers and the Chromo4 Q-PCR machine, have operating costs which can be charged to a users grant account. Users are responsible for buying their own chemicals, buffers, and other consumables used in their experiments. Some supplies can be obtained from the CGC stocks at 7.5% mark-up over cost and charged to an account number. The center tries to help minimize costs for users by bulk purchasing supplies where there are significant volume discounts. Qiagen DNA prep kits and ABI BigDye v3.1 DNA sequencing reaction mix are examples of supplies which are purchased by the CGC and which users can charge smaller quantities of to their budget numbers.
The costs of some of the consumables used by the instruments, such as the polymer matrix and capillary arrays used on the ABI Genetic Analyzers, are included in the rate charged for using the instrument. The rates charged for the various instruments are detailed on the page for the instrument (see the links at left). Information on external rates can be found here
E-mail mailing listThe Comparative Genomics Center maintains a Mailman list for users of
the CGC facilities, called cgc_users. Announcements about staffing hours, equipment status, and similar things are distributed through the cgc_users
list. The cgc_users list can be used to share tips and
questions about laboratory methods with other facility users, as well.
All facility users are required to subscribe to the cgc_users. This is done by clicking on this link and following the instructions provided: https://mailman.u.washington.edu/mailman/listinfo/cgc_users
The mailing list also provides a way for users to coordinate sample runs on
the ABI/PRISM Genetic Analyzers.
The center is managed on a day-to-day basis by the director. Decisions on larger spending items and on overall operating policies are made in consultation with the faculty committee which was instrumental in obtaining the Murdock Foundation grant which established the center. The current faculty committee members are Toby Bradshaw, Billie Swalla, and Adam Leache.
