The mission of the Facility Cores is to enhance the productivity and increase the quality of the research performed by Center Investigators. The Facility Cores of the UTMB-CET are Molecular Genetics, Biomolecular Resources Facility, and Synthetic Organic Chemistry. The major benefits provided to Investigators by these Cores fall into five broad categories:
- Access to advanced technologies that are beyond the reach of virtually any individual investigator's laboratory (e.g. gene chip analysis, mass spectrometry, large-scale protein production);
- Access to reagents that are not commercially available (e.g. modified nucleosides, customized small molecules);
- Hands-on training in specialized techniques (e.g. development of primary tissue cultures) and consultation on experimental design and interpretation of results (e.g. mass spectrometry);
- Access to routine services or research materials at a reduced price or turnaround time (e.g. DNA sequencing, DNA mutagenesis);
- Enhanced efficiency and proficiency resulting from frequent performance of difficult techniques otherwise carried out only rarely in an individual laboratory (e.g. mass spectrometry).
Each Core is located in dedicated space provided by the School of Medicine. The services offered by the Cores build on and augment rather than duplicate services offered by other core facilities at UTMB. All three Facility Cores have similar arrangements for chargeback fees. The Center Grant supports a Discount Management Program that partially defray the service costs to Center Investigators.
