The Lab

Coalesce comprises a studio laboratory, a teaching laboratory, and a conference room dedicated to interdisciplinary engagements and collaborations between the arts, humanities and the sciences, between scholarly and local communities, and between the university and the world at large. As such, Coalesce brings together pedagogy and public engagement by providing support for interdisciplinary coursework, workshops, exhibitions, and residency opportunities. It also provides explorations of the multidimensional interface between emerging practices in technology and the arts, and the ethical, legal and social implications of these technologies.

In addition to the basic tools of the life sciences — glassware, pipettors, microcentrifuges, vortexers, autoclaves, fume hoods — the Coalesce lab provides access to many of the tools and technologies used in genomics and explorations of the microbiome. We can facilitate DNA extraction, amplification, and visualization using thermocyclers for polymerase chain reaction, gel electrophoresis rigs for DNA separation, transilluminators for DNA visualization, and a digital imaging station outfitted with a Canon SLR for capturing gels. A bioinformatics station enables us to design molecular tools and analyze molecular data. Environmental and host-associated bacteria can be cultured in incubators and sterile hoods; we can even culture anaerobic bacteria in an anaerobic chamber complete with a gassing station, and compound and dissecting microscopes allow us to peer into the microbial world. Coalesce has access to many of the services provided by the University at Buffalo, including Sanger and next generation sequencing, spectroscopy, electron, confocal and fluorescence microscopy, and many others.