TCU has $100,613 to buy a scientific instrument to allow genetic sequencing, officials said.LI-COR Biosciences, a company that manufactures scientific equipment, gave around $50,000 of the amount through an education matching fund program, said Phil Hartman, professor of biology.

The TCU biology department matched the LI-COR grant to reach the $100,613 needed to buy the genetic sequencing equipment, Hartman said.

Hartman said the equipment will be of general utility to a wide number of people with various uses. The equipment will attract more faculty into the biology and psychology departments, he said.

Though TCU is not “setting any trends” by buying the equipment, it is “keeping pace,” he said.

Giridhar Akkaraju, an assistant professor of biology, said the equipment will sequence DNA and is useful in molecular biology. It will help on research and teaching levels, he said.

The equipment is useful, Hartman said, because “biology is increasingly molecular.”

Michael Misamore, assistant professor of biology, said the equipment will allow researchers to identify the functions of different genes. With the instrument, Misamore said, researchers can start at the very beginning: at the gene level.

Gary Boehm, assistant professor of psychology, does neuroscience research and said his main interest in the instrument is for single nucleotide polymorphism analysis.

A single nucleotide polymorphism is a “DNA sequence variation, occurring when a single nucleotide in the genome is altered,” according to wikipedia.org.

Boehm said the equipment will be great for lab classes and will allow new classes to begin.

“We have wanted to begin a neuroscience laboratory course,” Boehm said.

Hartman said the equipment will be useful for both undergraduates and graduates for their thesis work.