Background

We are a core DNA sequencing and fragment analysis facility based within the Medical Research Council Protein Phosphorylation Unit in the College of Life Sciences and serving laboratories within the University of Dundee and elsewhere within the UK. We are located within dedicated laboratory space that forms part of the College of Life Sciences on the main campus. We are a "not for profit" facility and the revenue brought in by the work we do covers all the costs associated with running the facility. Any additional revenue is used to help fund the academic research of our parent laboratories noted above. This involves research into diseases such as diabetes, cancer, arthritis and Alzheimers disease. We provide a wide range of contract research products for DNA analysis and associated services. We are also willing to discuss custom projects. Please contact us to discuss your individual requirements and how we might assist you. For more background information on us, please check out our history page.

Our Staff

Currently DNA Sequencing & Services has five staff members. The head of the facility is Dr. Nicholas Helps. Working under him are Mr Gary Hunter, Mrs Mel Wightman, Mrs Dawn Rooney and Ms Sarah Cavin. Each staff member has specific responsibilities, but also is involved in many of the activities undertaken so that holiday and illness cover are available. Nick oversees all activities, deals with complicated trouble-shooting and also deals with most of the financial aspects of the facility. The other staff undertake the day-to-day laboratory-based activities associated with the various products offered. More information on each staff member is available.

Our Equipment

We use the latest technology to generate the best possible data for our customers. Our range of instruments includes two Applied Biosystems 3730 DNA sequencers, four Qiagen Biorobot 9600s, seven 96 well PCR machines, a nanodrop spectrophotometer, two 96 well plate spinning centrifuges and a range of electronic multi-channel pipettes. More information is available on the equipment that we use.