Facilities & Resources

The Department of Sciences at John Jay College maintains a number of state-of-the-art facilities for research and teaching. Notable among these are the following laboratories:

DNA Analysis Laboratory:

John Jay College operates one of the leading research laboratories for forensic DNA analysis. Equipment includes: A) a 310 Genetic Analyzer (Applied Biosystems®) single channel capillary electrophoresis system that uses fluorescent based assays DNA fragment analysis and sequencing (application: PCR-STR and mitotyping); B) a 7500 RT-PCR (Applied Biosystems®) real-time PCR amplification system (application: DNA quantitation and SNP analysis); C) a 2100 Bioanalyzer (Agilent®): lab-on-a-chip electrophoresis system for analysis of nucleic acids and proteins (application: RFLP analysis); and D) a Biomeck 3000 (Beckman-Coulter®) robotic liquid handling system for nucleic acid and proteins (application: high throughput DNA extraction, quantitation and PCR sample prep).

Trace Mercury Laboratory:

John Jay College operates a state-of-the art facility for trace mercury research. Major mercury analysis instrumentation includes: A) four Tekran® 2537A Cold Vapor Atomic Fluorescence spectrometers for airborne mercury analysis to a detection limit of 0.3 ng/m3; B) a Milestone® DMA-80 thermal decomposition-based quantification unit for analysis of mercury in solids and solutions in compliance with EPA Method 7473; and C) a Lumex® RA 915 zeeman-corrected atomic absorption-based analyzer for portable quantification of airborne mercury to a detection limit of 2 ng/m3. In addition, the laboratory is equipped with support equipment including: i) a Tekran® 2505 mercury vapor calibration unit; ii) a StellarNet® EPP2000 fiber optic spectrometer for incident light measurement; iii) three ESCO® HEPA- and activated carbon-filtered laminar flow hoods to reduce ambient mercury in the working environment to <1 ng/m3; and iv) a 2B Technologies® portable ozone monitor. The Trace Mercury Laboratory also maintains a remote research site in collaboration with Hunter College at the Blackrock Research Forest in Cornwall, NY; equipment at this field site includes a Tekran® 2537A, a Tekran® 2505, and multiple environmental sensors.

Trace Element/ICP-MS Laboratory:

John Jay College operates a cutting-edge laboratory for elemental analysis. This laboratory also has the capability to do speciation analysis facilitated by chromatography separation coupled with Inductively Coupled Plasma-Mass Spectrometry (ICP-MS) detection. The major instruments include: A) Thermo® X-series ICP-MS with automated Collision Cell Technology (CCTED); B) Cetac ASX510 auto-sampler; C) Thermo® P4000 High Performance Liquid Chromatography unit with AS3000 auto-sampler ; and D) Thermo® Focus Gas Chromatography unit with AI3000 autosampler. This lab actively participates in research regarding the investigation of multiple trace elements in forensic and environmental samples, trace element speciation, and isotope analysis.

More information about specific equipment capabilities within the Department of Sciences is available by clicking here Science Inventory list 3rd Floor,  Science Inventory list 4th Floor,  Science Inventory list 5th Floor,  Science Inventory list 5th Floor PRISM.