Molecular Biology Laboratory

Short description:

​The lab is designed for molecular cancer diagnosis. Molecular tests allow the precise diagnosis of various cancers and the selection of appropriate therapy. The molecular diagnosis, focused on the intracellular interaction of genes and proteins, allows the identification of characteristic expression patterns that can be used for tumor identification. These patterns of expression can also be used to improve cancer diagnosis. Interpretation of the level of gene expression and variation in the number of copies can provide information about disease progression, and the gene expression profile can be used to monitor therapy. The lab is equipped with high-fidelity devices required for specific quantification of a large number of target nucleic acid types such as mRNA, microRNA and non-coding RNA.

​​Main activities / techniques:

• ​sample preparation and extraction of nucleic acids
• determination of gene expression and analysis of the number of copies (CNV)
• mutation detection; SNP genotyping
• activities that allow the generation of a plan for personalized cancer treatment.

​Staff:

• ​Coordinator: Calin Tatu, MD, PhD
• Oana Gavriliuc, Biol., MS, PhD
• Florina Bojin, MD, PhD
• Alexandra Ivan, Biotech Eng., PhD
• Technicians

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Equipment:

• ​LightCycler® 480 II Block Kit, 384 (Roche)
• Veriti® Thermal Cycler (Applied Biosystems)
• NanoDrop 1000 Spectrophotometer (Thermo Scientific)
• Molecular Imager®Gel Doc™ XR+ Universal Hood II (Bio-Rad)
• Horizontal electrophoresis system Power Pack Mini-Sub®
• Cell GT Cell (Bio-Rad)
• TissueLyser LT (Qiagen)
• Thermoblock Eppendorf SmartBlock (Eppendorf)
• Compact Thermomixers with thermoblock (Eppendorf)
• Laboratory centrifuges SL40R (Thermo Scientific)
• MiniSpin Centrifuge 5453 (Eppendorf)
• Low temperature freezers (-86 °C) (Thermo Scientific)