What can you get for half-a-million these days?

 

£500,000 buys 125,000 boxes of 100 latex gloves

£500,000 buys 69,348 boxes of 10 100ml conical flask glass 100ml

£500,000 buys 48,123 packs of 100 weighing boat micros

Chemicals are weighed using plastic weighing boats that are placed on the balance.

£500,000 buys 27,855 bunsen burners

£500,000 buys 18,573 vacuum water pumps  

 Wet objects can be dried by creating a vacuum and sucking the water out of the object.

£500,000 buys up to 3,472 x 100,000 units of T4 Ligase

An enzyme that seals breaks in DNA.

£500,000 buys up to 3,144 packs of 50 X Omat Film 35x43cm

X-ray film used to detect radioactivity or chemical fluorescence in many experiments.

£500,000 buys 2,686 Sequenase kits version 2

 An experimental kit used to determine the information contained within DNA - DNA sequencing.

£500,000 buys 1,359 Qiagen midi kits (100)  

 This kit enables DNA to be extracted from bacterial cells.

 

 

 

£500,000 buys up to 500 Centrifuges                                                                      

 Centrifuges are one of the most fundamental pieces of laboratory equipment and are used on an everyday basis by scientists. They spin samples at high speeds, generating a centrifugal force that can be best likened to the force experienced on a rotating fairground ride. As a result, heavy components sediment faster through a solution than light ones, allowing them to be separated from each other. Much of the work in our research laboratories involves growing large numbers of cells in a liquid broth. To separate the cells from the broth, scientists spin the cultures in a centrifuge. This is just one of the many applications of this piece of equipment.

£500,000 buys up to 250 Rotors

Large centrifuges, which spin sizeable volumes of liquid at high speeds, require special detachable rotors. These are solid metal supports with compartments that hold the samples in plastic centrifuge tubes. Different rotors may be used in a particular centrifuge depending on the sample volume and the rotation speed required. Rotors are expensive as they have to be carefully manufactured, with extreme precision, to ensure that they are evenly balanced; otherwise they will ’wobble’ when spun at high speeds, which can damage the centrifuge.

£500,000 buys up to 500 Gel Dryers

 

Proteins can be separated from each another by a process called electrophoresis. In this technique, a mixture of proteins is applied to a gel that is sandwiched between two glass plates, and an electric current is applied across the gel. Depending on their shape and size, the proteins move through the gel at different rates causing them to settle at different positions. In order to further analyse a gel or to store it for future reference, a gel has to be dried. Gel dryers are pieces of equipment which heat the gel and at the same time apply a vacuum to extract the water from it. Usually a protein gel is dried between two sheets of clear plastic.

 

A large amount of the research at Cancer Research UK involves studying biological samples - these range from living cells to components isolated from cells such as DNA and proteins. These samples are extremely sensitive to temperature and, when not being studied, must be stored at low temperatures to avoid damage.

 

£500,000 buys up to 2,500 -20°C freezers  

 For short-term storage, biological samples are kept at -20oC. In addition, many solutions and chemical reagents used in the laboratory have to be stored at -20oC to prevent them from going off.

£500,000 buys up to 140 -80°C freezers  

 For long term storage, days to years, biological samples are usually kept at    -80oC. Freezing is a delicate process and so, to minimise damage, samples are ‘flash’ frozen in liquid nitrogen before being transferred to a -80oC freezer.

£500,000 buys up to 1000 Liquid nitrogen storage tanks

 Laboratory samples need to be stored in such a way that they are not damaged. When storage is for a long period of time, samples may either be stored in a -80oC freezer (see above) or kept in liquid nitrogen. In the latter case, the samples are immersed in a special tank filled with liquid nitrogen. This means of storage is particularly useful for living cells, which can be defrosted at a later date and will still be alive.

£500,000 buys up to 500 Cell Incubators  

 To keep human and other vertebrate cells alive, they have to be incubated in a rich nutrient medium maintained at 37ºC and provided with an atmosphere containing variable amounts of carbon dioxide. Cell incubators are specialised pieces of equipment that are designed specifically for the growth of human and other animal cells. The temperature in the incubator can be maintained at 37ºC, our body temperature, and the composition of the atmosphere within the incubator is carefully regulated using an external supply of carbon dioxide and other gases.

£500,000 buys up to 2000 Water Baths

Water baths are fundamental pieces of laboratory equipment that are used on a daily basis by scientists. They are essentially tanks of water fitted with a heater (or refrigerator unit) and thermostat for maintaining the water at a constant temperature. Reactions conducted in the laboratory often require incubation at a particular temperature and placing them in a water bath is the best way of achieving this. Water baths can usually be set at temperatures ranging from 4oC up to 95oC.

£500,000 buys up to 330 Analytical Balances  

 Scientists frequently have to weigh out specific amounts of a chemical or biological sample for their work. An analytical balance is a high precision balance that is capable of weighing materials in the microgram range (a microgram is a millionth of a gram). The balance is enclosed in a cabinet that prevents air drafts from affecting the weight reading, thereby ensuring a high degree of accuracy. This level of accuracy is critical for many experiments where trace amounts of a substance needs to be added in order to create a solution with exactly the right concentration.

£500,000 buys up to 119 Class II Safety cabinets  

 Scientists are able to grow cells in the laboratory by incubating them in a liquid nutrient broth.  When growing cells it is important to prevent contamination of the culture with other cells, such as bacteria, yeasts, or viruses in the environment.  To this end, whenever the cultures are manipulated the work is carried out in a safety cabinet.  As well as providing a sterile environment in which to work, by ensuring that bugs and dust are not wafted onto the working surface of the cabinet, a class II safety cabinet protects the user by ensuring that none of the cells or chemicals in the cabinet are wafted out.  This is particularly important when working with dangerous chemicals or with certain cells.

 

£500,000 could buy . . . . .

¢ Approx. 1 year and 8 months of a Cancer Research UK London Research Institute: Lincoln’s Inn Fields lab’s costs.  

 This is based on an average cost of funding one of the labs and doesn’t include the overhead costs.

Our central London, Cancer Research UK London Research Institute laboratories, at Lincoln’s Inn Fields, are carrying out what we call basic research.  Basic research is concerned with understanding the fundamental processes that take place within the cells of our body.  Cancer arises when a series of changes occur in a cell, causing it to multiply out of control. Through basic research we hope to understand exactly how our cells normally work, so that we can understand what goes wrong leading to cancer.  

 

 So basic research aims to uncover the causes of cancer at the molecular level.  It is hoped that the knowledge gained from this work will lead to new and more effective approaches for the treatment of many types of cancer.   Discoveries in the laboratory can also lead to new ways of preventing cancer, through the identification of predisposing factors, and to new methods of early detection, through the identification of cancer specific changes at the molecular level.

 

¢ It would fund around 35 PhD students at our Cancer Research UK London Research Institute: Clare Hall laboratories for a year.  This too would not include overheads costs.

 

These are science graduates, recruited from top class universities in the UK and abroad, who spend 3-4 years studying for a PhD.  Cancer Research UK is seen as a leading institute at which to study for a PhD because it: (i) offers the opportunity to work with and learn from some of the world’s leading cancer research scientists, and (ii) provides a very supportive environment which allows students to dedicate all their time to research. Therefore, we are able to attract some of the most talented students whose ideas and enthusiasm inject new life into our research programme.  PhD students represent the future of cancer research and, as such, Cancer Research UK is extremely committed to nurturing new talent through the training of these young scientists.

 

£500,000 could buy . . . . .

¢ 15 Laboratory sterilisers

 

This piece of equipment is essentially a large autoclave, used for a wide spectrum of functions such as sterilisation of glassware, media fluids (liquid in which bacterial cultures for study can be grown containing essential nutrients), hazardous waste (prior to its safe disposal) and laboratory clothing.  

 

¢ Around 12 ½ Clinical Research Fellows within our Institute of Molecular Medicine laboratories in Oxford for a year (excludes the overhead costs).

 

A Clinical Research Fellow is a fixed term appointment which may be for two, three or four years, enabling medical graduates with appropriate postgraduate clinical qualifications to undertake a period of research leading to a PhD, or in exceptional circumstances an MD, degree.  It is expected that Fellows would be planning a career in clinical or laboratory medicine with an emphasis on cancer.  Clinical Research Fellows are incorporated into the general Graduate Student Programme and are required to produce reports and participate in associated activities.

 

¢ Around 25 Scientific Officers (technicians) within our Edinburgh Medical Oncology Unit at the Western General Hospital for a year (excludes the overhead costs).

 

These are permanent members of staff who, as well as conducting their own research, oversee the day-to-day running of the laboratory.  One of their responsibilities, for example, is to order equipment and chemicals needed by the group.  Apart from the laboratory head, scientific officers are the only permanent members of the laboratory and, as such, they have an important role in maintaining knowledge and scientific expertise, passing this onto new members of the group.

 

 

 

And so much more...

 

This is what you do when you come to one of our functions; please don’t stop and thanks to you all!