The molecular life sciences community at UCLA has established a number of core facilities that greatly enhance the research pursuits of members of the Division of Biochemistry. These include oligonucleotide and peptide synthesis facilities, DNA and peptide sequencing services and facilities for media preparation, fermentation and tissue culture, confocal microscopy, and cryo-electron microscopy. The macromolecular structure group has world-class facilities for X-ray diffraction and multi-dimensional NIVIR analysis of DNA, RNA and proteins. In addition, the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry houses a first-rate Biochemistry Instrumentation facility, which includes instrumentation for digital autoradiographic and fluorescent imaging, analytical ultracentrifugation, HPLC, surface plasma resonance spectroscopy and microcalorimetry.

Shops and Services

With the assistance of our excellent departmental shops and personnel, UCLA faculty and students have designed and built equipment that has defined the state-of-the-art in many fields. The department and Physical Sciences Division maintain and staff a glass shop, microelectronics shop, machine shop and well-stocked chemical and supplies storerooms, all open for student use. The UCLA Visualization Center is available for video, graphics, 3-D animation and imaging of scientific and mathematical models.

Library

The UCLA Library has been ranked second among all research libraries in North America by the Association of Research Libraries. This high rating-exceeded only by the library at Harvard-was based on the size and quality of the UCLA collections and excellence of professional staff. The Chemistry Library, housed in Young Hall, has 71,000 bound volumes as well as some 750 serial titles in all fields of chemistry, biochemistry and molecular biology. Its collections of U.S. chemical patents as well as UCLA chemistry and biochemistry theses and dissertations are extensive. The Biomedical Library in the nearby Center for the Health Sciences has an exhaustive collection of books and journals pertaining to molecular life sciences.

A family of NMR-derived structures from the Feigon laboratory of an RNA
domain found in the Tetrahymena group 1 ribozyme.

Viewport to an ultrahigh vacuum chamber.