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Lab on a chip used for protein studies

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

ORNL's lab on a chip is being used commercially to identify proteins and shows promise for drug discovery and disease screening.

Genes and proteins

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Consider a living cell, the fundamental unit of life. Each human cell contains the entire human genome—some 35,000 genes. But only some genes are expressed within a specific cell, resulting in the production of specific proteins. The genes that turn on in a liver cell, for example, are different from the genes that are expressed in a brain cell.

Searching for mouse models of human

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Mutant mice are tested by ORNL researchers and their collaborators to determine if these mice have diseases similar to those that afflict humans. Therapies tried on mouse models could lead to new medical treatments.

Gene chip engineers

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

At ORNL, microarrays are being made faster and cheaper to study gene expression in cells from mice, fish, and other organisms.

MicroCAT 'sees' hidden mouse defects

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

ORNL's X-ray computed tomography system allows internal defects and organ changes in small animals to be mapped.

Obesity-related gene in mouse discovered at ORNL

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Some mice born at ORNL have grown dangerously fat, even though they have been on a low-fat diet since birth. Although they do not appear overweight, these mice have a mutated gene that plays a strong role in causing obesity in the form of internal fat deposits that are hazardous to their health.

Curing cancer in mice

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

ORNL researchers have shown that a radioisotope-bearing antibody can target the blood vessels of lung tumors in mice, destroying the tumors.

Complex biological systems in mice

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

Using genetic engineering, gene microarrays, and computational technologies, ORNL researchers are deciphering genetic variations in the skin that lead to increased risk of disease from environmental factors.

Search for signs of inflammatory disease

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

You fall on your shoulder and tear some cartilage, causing bone to rub against bone. Your shoulder becomes inflamed and begins to hurt because cytokine, a small signal protein secreted by your immune system, has recruited white blood cells to clean up the damage.

Mouse models for the human disease of chronic hereditary tyrosinemia

DOE/Oak Ridge National Laboratory

When a section of mouse chromosome 7 containing the coat color c gene is deleted by exposing mice to radiation, "albino" mice are born with a white, hairless coat.