Mobile Lab Kits

Mobile laboratory kits support hands-on classroom instruction and help students become enthused about biotechnology. Several different kits are available for instructors in the region.

The SJBC has the following kits available on a first-come first-served basis, PCR (polymerase chain reaction), Simulation of HIV Detection, DNA Fingerprinting and ELIZA. Each classroom kit contains sufficient supplies for one lab experiment for 25-40 students. These classroom kits are made available from Edvotek and Bio-Rad. Request these kits through Shannon Bishop at sbishop@gavilan.edu. If there are additional kits you'd like the SJBC to offer, please let us know.

High school and community college instructors that have completed the Level I Biotechnology teacher training course offered by the Edward Teller Education Center (ETEC) can reserve a mobile laboratory equipment kit through Doug Kain at kain.d@mccd.edu. (These kits are not shipped, so their use is restricted to driving distance from Merced.)

Instructors in Santa Clara County who have attended one of the workshops offered by the Santa Clara County Biotechnology Education Partnership (SCCBEP) have a choice of several mobile laboratory equipment kits, including DNA Fingerprinting and Transformation. Apply for kits at the SCCBEP website
http://www.science.sjsu.edu/sccbep/index.html.

Hollister Company Donates Molecular Biology Media to Schools

TEKnova, in Hollister, California, manufactures agar plate media, liquid broths and buffers for molecular biology applications. Ted Davis, TEKnova’s CEO, has offered these materials to schools for use in student labs. These are high-grade products used by commercial and research applications that are expiration-dated with less than 30 days remaining on their shelf life.

Instructors interested in participating in the program should review TEKnova’s website at www.teknova.com. If there are questions about what products are appropriate, instructors are invited to email TEKnova a copy of their experiments and the part numbers of the reagents needed. TEKnova will confirm that the products requested are suitable or suggest alternatives. Products should be ordered by part number, along with the date when the lab is scheduled. TEKnova will ship products in advance of the scheduled lab. Schools will be charged only for shipping.

This is an excellent opportunity for schools to reduce the costs of student labs and/or to expand their laboratory instructional programs. For more information or to order TEKnova reagents, contact Deanna@teknova.com.

San Joaquin Biotechnology Center
Gavilan College
5055 Santa Teresa Blvd.
Gilroy, CA 95020
408.848.4828