Resources
LSI Cryo-Electron Microscopy Facility
The Living Systems Institute is home to a temperature and humidity controlled cryo-electron microscopy (cryoEM) facility, equipped with a cryo-capable 120kV FEI T12 transmission electron microscope and a dedicated sample preparation laboratory. The facility also operates a powerful multi-GPU computer cluster for data analysis and image processing. High resolution data collection is performed at the GW4 Regional Facility for CryoEM in Bristol, which houses a 200kV Talos Arctica and K2 direct electron detector camera.
LSI Imaging Analysis Hub
The LSI Image Analysis Hub (LIAH) facilitates analyses of complex imaging datasets. The LIAH has been set up within LSI to process imaging data acquired using advanced microscopy equipment housed in the Bioimaging Centre, including confocal, lattice structured illumination, and light sheet microscopes. A fast data link to the LIAH allows full and seamless remote control of all optical devices in the Bioimaging Centre.
The data link to LIAH provides efficient transfer of large datasets, which are acquired in sophisticated high-resolution 3D time-lapse experiments or super-resolution analysis, where image acquisition can generate terabytes of data. A repertoire of advanced image processing algorithms enables LSI researchers to extract valuable information from these complex data sets to advance our understanding of the function of living systems in unprecedented detail.
LSI Microfluidic facilities
The Living Systems Institute hosts world-class microfluidic facilities consisting of a suite of equipment for fabricating end-use microfluidic devices. These facilities include equipment for designing and microfabricating microfluidic structures on silicon wafers, processing silicone prepolymer, epoxy, and glass substrates, and for aligning, finishing, and bonding cured devices. Furthermore, our facilities host state-of-the-art microscopy equipment for long-term live-cell imaging of bacterial, fungal, mammalian, and plant cells during exposure to biological, chemical, or physical stimuli.
LSI Tissue Culture
The Living Systems Institute Tissue Culture Facility provides researchers with a platform for the preparation and analysis of tissue cultures at the cellular level. The facility is a self-contained environmentally controlled suite for the culture of stem cells and other cell types. It features a full complement of equipment, including both standard CO2 incubators and hypoxia-capable incubators alongside class 2 biological safety cabinets, plus separate secure rooms for viral and primary cell cultures.
The facility also hosts a high-content analyser and a dedicated fluorescence microscopy room featuring a time-lapse live cell imaging system. The LSI Tissue Culture Facility is dedicated to advancing the understanding of cellular processes and disease states.
University Aquatic Resources Centre
The University of Exeter Aquatic Resources Centre (ARC) includes 14 aquaria rooms housing a wide range of freshwater and marine species, each relevant to a series of specific research questions for researchers in the Living Systems Institute, Biosciences and the wider University of Exeter.
Image by Alexander Bell (Zebrafish Technician)
University Bio-Imaging
The Bioimaging Centre is a research facility within the School of Biosciences providing both state-of-the-art instrumentation and experienced staff to assist researchers and students in collaborative and multidisciplinary research by applying advanced cellular imaging techniques to address key questions in biology.
University Centre for Cytomics
Cytometry technology facility at the University of Exeter providing the next generation of flow cytometry systems for quantitative single cell research. This includes cutting-edge flow cytometry analysis (acoustic, spectral, imaging), BSLII cell sorting (e.g. spectral sorter), multiplexing and complex data analysis (DL, ML).
University Mass Spectrometry Facility
The Mass Spectrometry Facility specialises in the analysis of small molecules (<1000 daltons). Typical applications supported within the facility include: targeted analysis of amino acids, plant hormones, mammalian steroid hormones, monosaccharides, disaccharides, plant glucosinolates and polar organic acids alongside metabolic profiling, calculations of concentrations and comparative quantification of selected unknown metabolites.
University Sequencing Facility
The University of Exeter Sequencing Facility provides state-of-the-art genomics and bioinformatics analysis to researchers in academia and industry. A number of different sequencing platforms are available alongside dedicated support to assist with experimental design.