Ionomics platform
The Ionomics Facility provides researchers with access to state-of-the-art equipment.
Profiling organism elemental composition
Ionomics is a high-throughput elemental profiling aimed at measuring the total elemental composition of an organism (known as the ionome) to address biological problems. Questions within physiology, ecology, evolution, and many other fields can be investigated using ionomics, often coupled with bioinformatics and other genetic tools. Observing an organism's ionome is a powerful approach to the functional analysis of its genes and the gene networks controlling mineral nutrient homeostasis. Information about the physiological state of an organism can also be revealed indirectly through its ionome that is an indicator of health, disease, and response to the environment.
The facility contains a purpose-built clean room currently housing two dedicated state-of-the-art Perkin Elmer NexION 2000 ICP-MS instruments and an adjoining sample preparation facility designed specifically for the high throughput preparation of samples for analysis by ICP-MS.