Texas A&M Protein Chemistry Lab named No. 1 in the country
Texas A&M AgriLife’s Protein Chemistry Lab, or PCL, was named No. 1 Top Performer for Protein Engineering, Productions and Characterization labs by Science Exchange. Ranking No. 1 out of 526 protein labs, the PCL has over 160 completed projects through the platform, with 100% success.
The PCL, a core resource facility within Texas A&M University’s College of Agriculture and Life Sciences Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, operates as a fee-for-service facility that provides support in advanced protein chemistry and proteomics research throughout the Texas A&M University System.
Science Exchange acts as a global one-stop shop for laboratory services, where scientists can locate labs that provide the specific analysis needed for their project. Through the Exchange, scientists and corporations have an opportunity to connect, innovate and collaborate widely in an effort to make new discoveries.
The laboratory accepts samples on a first-come, first-served basis from faculty, scientists and students of Texas A&M, other educational institutions and industrial scientists. It provides state-of-the-art instrumentation, systems, software, technical expertise and training for the application of modern molecular biological technologies.
Lawrence Dangott, Ph.D., Texas A&M AgriLife Research senior research scientist and director of the PCL, launched the lab 23 years ago, and its services have remained uninterrupted since the lab’s inception.
“The lab provides instrumentation that scientists may not want to buy on their own – because the instruments are specialized – or their project requires sophisticated analyses that they may not know how to do,” Dangott said. “The university funds the centralized resource that provides the instrumentation and highly trained, professional scientists to run them.”
Dangott said the non-profit enterprise promotes Texas A&M research and provides services for fees to cover operational costs.
Part of the PCL’s mission is to keep abreast of technological advances in protein chemistry and proteomics. In coordination with a user committee comprised of faculty-users of the lab, the facility tries to respond to the wishes of the faculty and users but also remains in the know on new developments that may be of use to faculty. Remaining at the forefront lends the PCL the opportunity to offer cutting-edge technology to its users and ultimately, a first-class usage opportunity.
“A great deal of our success stems from close relationships with our user committee and faculty-users and communicating with them to understand their needs so we can best advise them,” Dangott said.
“The relationship with Science Exchange started about 10 years ago in an effort to expand our impact on the larger scientific community,” he explained.
He said although the primary mission is to help Texas A&M scientists, the PCL also offers services to scientists outside of Texas A&M, both academic and commercial, through the relationship with Science Exchange.
“Through Science Exchange, we have expanded not only the lab’s visibility but also that of Texas A&M University,” he said. “And from that, we have met and satisfied many colleagues, collaborators and clients internationally and added to the university’s already excellent reputation as a research institution.”
