Ranked among the world’s most advanced research facilities, Rensselaer’s Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies provides the university with a state-of-the-art location to conduct interdisciplinary research and host world-class programs and symposia.
The complex comprises 218,000 square feet, making it the third largest academic and research structure on the Rensselaer campus.
Situated adjacent to the George M. Low Center for Industrial Innovation on 15th Street, the new building offers ample space for about 400 faculty and staff members and graduate students, including:
- 31,250 square feet of open research laboratory space
- 27,350 square feet of core research laboratory space
- 13,000 square feet of support research laboratory
space
- 31,775 square feet of office space
- 5,830 square feet of seminar space
- 5,200 square feet auditorium and gallery space
Research takes place in a next-generation infrastructure with the advanced tools to study bioprocesses on every level, from atomic to systems. To cite just a few examples:
Biocomputation — an array of state-of-the-art shared memory Linux superclusters with multi-Terabyte storage for large scale data mining, drug design, cheminformatics, molecular modeling, and bioinformatics.
Biacore 3000 Surface Plasmon Resonance Spectrometer — instrumentation for analysis of organic compounds.
High-Throughput Screening Facility — for screening combinatorial chemical libraries to identify possible therapeutic drugs.
Histology — instrumentation for cell and tissue analysis.
Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR) Core Facility — 800 MHz NMR for determining molecular structure.
Microbiology — large-scale culture and fermentation systems and associated measurement and testing instrumentation.
Microscopy and Imaging — state-of-the-art facilities including electron microscopes (SEM, TEM, and others); laser scanning, confocal, light and fluorescence, and atomic force microscopes; and other instruments for photometry and microspectroscopy.
Molecular Biology — instruments for DNA sequencing, PCR, array display, and computation needed for molecular analysis.
Proteomics — a fleet of mass spectrometers for high throughput protein analysis.
Tissue Engineering and Cell Culture — facilities include a new 10,000 sq. ft. vivarium, fluorescence activated cell sorters, bioreactors, various specialized video-microscopes, microinjection facilities, as well as standard cell and tissue culture hoods and incubators.
Zebrafish Facility — lab containing two independent holding systems, each with a capacity of 10,350 adult zebrafish in 2-liter, 4-liter, 6-liter and 3/4-liter tanks.
Part of the center’s facilities were made possible with funding from Generating Employment through New York Science (Gen*NY*sis), a program administered by The New York State Office of Science, Technology, and Academic Research (NYSTAR).
The program has provided $22.5 million to create the Gen*NY*sis Center for Bioengineering and Medicine within the Center for Biotechnology and Interdisciplinary Studies. Funding for this subcenter will come from the Senate's Gen*NY*sis biotechnology economic development program and will create 290 new permanent jobs.
The Gen*NY*sis grant supports essential infrastructure, including laboratory equipment and facilities within the center.
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