Wheaton receives grant in support of new molecular biology lab
With the hiring of a new molecular biologist and the establishment of a state-of-the-art molecular biology lab, Wheaton students now have increased opportunity for cutting-edge research and learning in the areas of molecular biology, biotechnology and genetics.
With the hiring of a new molecular biologist and the establishment of a state-of-the-art molecular biology lab, Wheaton biology students now have increased opportunity for cutting-edge research and learning in the areas of molecular biology, biotechnology and genetics. Their work will be supported, in large part, by a generous grant from Richard White Sons, a general contracting and construction firm with a long relationship with Wheaton.
The grant of $135,000 from Richard White Sons will provide an ABI 3100 gene sequencer, a precision instrument essential to the study of molecular biology. The sequencer is used to collect and isolate pieces of DNA, amplify the DNA using a process called polymerase chain reaction (PCR) and compare variations of DNA among individuals. Scientists using the sequencer can detect variations in gene size and can identify the very specific makeup of a segment of DNA, all important to discovery on a molecular level.
The establishment of this lab and the grant come at a time when increasing numbers of Wheaton students have chosen to study science. In 1996, just nine percent of the graduating class majored in the sciences; 13.2 percent of the Class of 2001 majored in the sciences. The faculty complement has grown accordingly: Wheaton's science and mathematics faculty in 1996 numbered 18; today, it numbers 24.
Richard White Sons' CEO Kevin Hines presented President Dale Marshall with a check for $135,000 on a recent visit to campus. The firm, based in Auburndale, Mass., was one of Wheaton's building contractors for Beard Hall. The founder, Richard White, established the firm in 1905 as a masonry and general contracting company. During the 1920s, three of his sons joined the business and with the company's family tradition and dedication to the construction industry began. The company expanded into the higher education market in the late 1970s.
