Science & Mathematics

The Museum's collections hold thousands of objects related to chemistry, biology, physics, astronomy, and other sciences. Instruments range from early American telescopes to lasers. Rare glassware and other artifacts from the laboratory of Joseph Priestley, the discoverer of oxygen, are among the scientific treasures here. A Gilbert chemistry set of about 1937 and other objects testify to the pleasures of amateur science. Artifacts also help illuminate the social and political history of biology and the roles of women and minorities in science.

The mathematics collection holds artifacts from slide rules and flash cards to code-breaking equipment. More than 1,000 models demonstrate some of the problems and principles of mathematics, and 80 abstract paintings by illustrator and cartoonist Crockett Johnson show his visual interpretations of mathematical theorems.

In 1974 Stanford University doctoral graduates Harry Garland and Roger Melen established a partnership named for their former dormitory Crothers Memorial Hall. Cromemco was formally incorporated in 1976.
Description
In 1974 Stanford University doctoral graduates Harry Garland and Roger Melen established a partnership named for their former dormitory Crothers Memorial Hall. Cromemco was formally incorporated in 1976. For the life of the company Garland and Melen remained the sole shareholders and avoided outside investment. At the insistence of their accountant, the company held a bank credit line but never had to tap the full amount. Their business philosophy was to grow only within the parameters of available cash. Revenues in 1975 were $50,000 and grew to an estimated $55 million by 1987 when the owners sold the company to Dynatech.
The company’s first products were a microcomputer system digital camera, the Cyclops, and a color graphics card called the Dazzler. From these products the company moved on to making reliable, high-quality business and scientific computers and in 1982, they introduced the C-10 Personal Computer. Cromemco systems were the first commercially marketed microcomputers certified by the U.S. Navy for use aboard ships and Ohio class submarines for data logging during tests. The United States Air Force became a major customer for their Theater Air Control System (TACS) and the Mission Support System (MSS) for F-16, F-15 and other aircraft. By 1986 more than 80 percent of the major-market television stations in the U.S. used Cromemco systems to produce news and weather graphics.
According to the user manual, “The C-10’s high-quality construction, continual self-testing, and proven design assure that it will perform faithfully year after year.”
This Cromemco C-10 microcomputer was used at Monroe High School in Monroe, MI from 1982-2008. In 1980 physics teacher Darol Straub started an after school computer class which led to the development of the school’s first formal computer curriculum. To be accepted into the course, students were required to take an aptitude entrance test. Classes were two periods per day for three years. Hardware and software topics included basic circuits to microcomputer design and building, and programming in binary code and assembly language as well as higher level languages such as BASIC, FORTRAN, PASCAL, COBOL, and “C.” The third year focused on developing advanced projects using speech recognition, numeric control, fiber optic communication, graphic design, and robotics.
Many of Straub’s students went on to college to study computer science and earned jobs with companies such as Microsoft and Intel. Two brothers who completed the curriculum opened a computer company when they graduated from high school. According to Mr. Straub, the company was still in business in 2018. The brother of the donor, also a student of Straub’s, graduated from Monroe High School in 2009 and MIT in 2013. He now works for Space X.
In 1988 the Computer Engineering Program students produced a 20 minute video “Monroe High School – Current Generation” which the school used to promote and recruit new students for the course.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
ca 1982
user
Straub, Darol
Gagnon, Blair
maker
Cromemco Inc.
ID Number
2018.0113.01
accession number
2018.0113
catalog number
2018.0113.01
A paper label on this seismograph reads “Made from the Designs of Professor Ewing of Dundee, by the California Electric Works, 35 Market street, San Francisco; and recommended for use in California by Professor LeConte of Berkeley and by Professor Holden, Director of the Lick Obs
Description
A paper label on this seismograph reads “Made from the Designs of Professor Ewing of Dundee, by the California Electric Works, 35 Market street, San Francisco; and recommended for use in California by Professor LeConte of Berkeley and by Professor Holden, Director of the Lick Observatory.”
James Alfred Ewing was a young Scottish physicist/engineer who, while teaching in Tokyo in the years between 1878 and 1883, designed several seismographs. Among these was a duplex pendulum instrument that recorded the two horizontal components of earthquakes. It was, he claimed, “comparatively cheap and simple” and was “employed by many private observers in Japan.”
The Cambridge Scientific Instrument Company in England began manufacturing Ewing’s several seismographs in 1886. The first examples in the United States were installed in the Lick Observatory on Mount Hamilton and in the University of California at Berkeley. Edward Holden was then director of the former and president of the latter, and Joseph LeConte was professor of geology at Berkeley.
Enthusiastic about the new science of seismology, Holden and LeConte convinced Paul Seiler, head of an electrical apparatus supply firm in San Francisco, to manufacture duplex pendulum seismographs that would sell for $15 apiece (rather than the $75 charged by the English firm). Over a dozen examples are known to have been distributed across the country and around the world, some recording earthquakes as early as 1889. This one came to the Smithsonian in 1964, a gift of Case Institute of Technology in Cleveland, Ohio.
Ref: Edward S. Holden, Handbook of the Lick Observatory (San Francisco, 1888), pp. 54-56.
Edward S. Holden and Joseph LeConte, “Use of the Ewing Duplex Seismometer” (1887), reprinted in Holden, “Earthquakes on the Pacific Coast,” Smithsonian Miscellaneous Collections 1087 (1898).
Location
Currently not on view
date made
late 1880s
maker
California Electrical Works
ID Number
PH.323669
catalog number
323669
accession number
251332
This white plastic electrophoresis comb is made from hard plastic and has 15 tines.Electrophoresis combs are used to create the wells in gels for electrophoresis, a technique that uses the electrical charges of molecules to separate them by their length.
Description (Brief)
This white plastic electrophoresis comb is made from hard plastic and has 15 tines.
Electrophoresis combs are used to create the wells in gels for electrophoresis, a technique that uses the electrical charges of molecules to separate them by their length. It is often used to analyze DNA fragments. When a gel is poured, a comb is inserted. After the gel solidifies, the comb is removed, leaving wells for samples.
Location
Currently not on view
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.19
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.19
This plastic chamber was part of a set-up for a vertical gel electrophoresis chamber used in the lab at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Description (Brief)
This plastic chamber was part of a set-up for a vertical gel electrophoresis chamber used in the lab at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Gel electrophoresis is a technique that uses the electrical charges of molecule to separate them by their length. It is often used to analyze DNA fragments. “Yansura,” the name of one of the scientists who used the set-up, is etched on one side of the chamber.
Location
Currently not on view
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.04
catalog number
2012.0198.04
accession number
2012.0198
Intel introduced its 8080A 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) microprocessor in April 1974. Generally considered as the first truly usable microprocessor, the chip ran at 2 megahertz and powered the Altair 8800 and the IMSAI 8080, two of the first Personal Computers.
Description
Intel introduced its 8080A 8-bit central processing unit (CPU) microprocessor in April 1974. Generally considered as the first truly usable microprocessor, the chip ran at 2 megahertz and powered the Altair 8800 and the IMSAI 8080, two of the first Personal Computers. Housed in a 40-pin DIP package that contained 6,000 transistors, the integrated circuit could receive 8-bit instructions and perform 16-bit operations. This particular example is marked "8321"indicating it was made in the 21st week of 1983. The "D8080A" means the unit has a housing of black ceramic.
date made
1983-05
maker
Intel Corporation
ID Number
1984.0124.04
accession number
1984.0124
catalog number
1984.0124.04
maker number
8080
This jumpsuit was worn by a scientist from Advanced Genetic Systems during the first release of genetically modified microorganisms into the environment approved by the federal government.The organisms, a genetically modified version of naturally occurring bacteria from the genus
Description (Brief)
This jumpsuit was worn by a scientist from Advanced Genetic Systems during the first release of genetically modified microorganisms into the environment approved by the federal government.
The organisms, a genetically modified version of naturally occurring bacteria from the genus Pseudomonas, were sprayed on test fields of strawberry plants in Monterey County, Calif., to increase their resistance to frost.
In nature, Pseudomonas can be found on the surface of many plants. The bacteria contribute to problems with frost on crops because they produce a protein that promotes the formation of ice. In hopes of reducing frost damage to crops, scientist Steve Lindow at the University of California altered the bacteria to stop producing this protein. The University patented these “ice-minus” bacteria and licensed the technology to Advanced Genetic Systems, a company based in Oakland, Calif. AGS hoped to bring the bacteria to market as an ice-proofing spray for crops called “Frostban.”
After careful review, the U.S. government approved field tests of Frostban. Despite the review, public fear of releasing these bacteria into the environment remained. Some scientists raised concerns that the ice-minus bacteria could replace the natural bacterial population. Because of their ice-forming abilities, the natural bacteria play a role in the creation of precipitation. This fact led some to worry that damage to the natural population could have repercussions for rainfall and weather patterns.
Activists against Frostban broke into test fields and uprooted plants to be sprayed several times throughout the field trials. After four years of tests, Frostban was found to be effective in reducing frost damage to crops. Due to continued public discomfort with genetically modified organisms, however, AGS never marketed the product. The company feared that the expense of fighting legal battles to get it to market would outweigh possible profit.
Sources:
“Public Fears Factored Into Gene-Altered Bacteria Tests.” Griffin, Katherine. The Los Angeles Times. April 18, 1988. p. AOC11.
“Bacteria on the Loose.” Fox, Michael W. The Washington Post. November 26, 1985. p. A16.
“Chapter 5: Ecological Considerations.” Office of Technology Assessment, Congress of the United States. Field-Testing Engineered Organisms: Genetic and Ecological Issues. 2002. pp.94–95.
“Chapter 4: The Release of a Genetically Engineered Microorganism.” Schacter, Bernice Zeldin. Issues and Dilemmas of Biotechnology: A Reference Guide. 1999.
Location
Currently not on view
ID Number
1987.0770.01
accession number
1987.0770
catalog number
1987.0770.01
The discovery of nuclear fission in uranium, announced in 1939, allowed physicists to advance with confidence in the project of creating "trans-uranic" elements - artificial ones that would lie in the periodic table beyond uranium, the last and heaviest nucleus known in nature.
Description
The discovery of nuclear fission in uranium, announced in 1939, allowed physicists to advance with confidence in the project of creating "trans-uranic" elements - artificial ones that would lie in the periodic table beyond uranium, the last and heaviest nucleus known in nature. The technique was simply to bombard uranium with neutrons. Some of the uranium nuclei would undergo fission, newly understood phenomenon, and split violently into two pieces. In other cases, however, a uranium-238 nucleus (atomic number 92) would quietly absorb a neutron, becoming a nucleus of uranium-239, which in turn would soon give off a beta-particle and become what is now called neptunium-239 (atomic number 93). After another beta decay it would become Element 94 (now plutonium-239)
By the end of 1940, theoretical physicists had predicted that this last substance, like uranium, would undergo fission, and therefore might be used to make a nuclear reactor or bomb. Enrico Fermi asked Emilio Segre to use the powerful new 60-inch cyclotron at the University of California at Berkeley to bombard uranium with slow neutrons and create enough plutonium-239 to test it for fission. Segre teamed up with Glenn T. Seaborg, Joseph W. Kennedy, and Arthur C. Wahl in January 1941 and set to work.
They carried out the initial bombardment on March 3-6, then, using careful chemical techniques, isolated the tiny amount (half a microgram) of plutonium generated. They put it on a platinum disc, called "Sample A," and on March 28 bombarded it with slow neutrons to test for fission. As expected, it proved to be fissionable - even more than U-235. To allow for more accurate measurements, they purified Sample A and deposited it on another platinum disc, forming the "Sample B" here preserved. Measurements taken with it were reported in a paper submitted to the Physical Review on May 29, 1941, but kept secret until 1946. (The card in the lid of the box bears notes from a couple of months later.)
After the summer of 1941, this particular sample was put away and almost forgotten, but the research that began with it took off in a big way. Crash programs for the production and purification of plutonium began at Berkeley and Chicago, reactors to make plutonium were built at Hanford, Washington, and by 1945 the Manhattan Project had designed and built a plutonium atomic bomb. The first one was tested on July 16, 1945 in the world's first nuclear explosion, and the next was used in earnest over Nagasaki. (The Hiroshima bomb used U-235.)
Why is our plutonium sample in a cigar box? G.N. Lewis, a Berkeley chemist, was a great cigar smoker, and Seaborg, his assistant, made it a habit to grab his boxes as they became empty, to use for storing things. In this case, it was no doubt important to keep the plutonium undisturbed and uncontaminated, on the one hand, but also, on the other hand, to make it possible for its weak radiations to pass directly into instruments - not through the wall of some closed container. Such considerations, combined probably with an awareness of the historic importance of the sample, brought about the storage arrangement we see.
Location
Currently not on view
Date made
1941-05-21
Associated Date
1941-05-29
referenced
Segre, Emilio
Seaborg, Glenn T.
Kennedy, Joseph W.
Wahl, Arthur C.
Lewis, G. N.
University of California, Berkeley
maker
Segre, Emilio
Seaborg, Glenn
ID Number
EM.N-09384
catalog number
N-09384
accession number
272669
Protropin is an injectable, recombinant pharmaceutical that is used to treat children with growth problems stemming from an inability to produce their own growth hormone.Recombinant pharmaceuticals are created by inserting genes from one species into a host species, often yeast o
Description (Brief)
Protropin is an injectable, recombinant pharmaceutical that is used to treat children with growth problems stemming from an inability to produce their own growth hormone.
Recombinant pharmaceuticals are created by inserting genes from one species into a host species, often yeast or bacteria, where they do not naturally occur. The genes code for a desired product, and therefore the genetically modified host organisms can be grown and used as a kind of living factory to produce the product. In this case, genes coding for human growth hormone are inserted into bacteria. Bacteria produce the growth hormone, which is harvested and used as the active ingredient in Protropin.
Object consists of a sealed cardboard box with light blue, dark blue, and black printing. Box contains two vials Protropin and one vial Bacteriostatic Water for injection.
date made
ca 1987
maker
Genentech Inc.
ID Number
1987.0789.02
accession number
1987.0789
catalog number
1987.0789.02
This electroelution chamber was used by scientists at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the late 1970s and early 1980s.
Description (Brief)
This electroelution chamber was used by scientists at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Electroelution is a technique for removing proteins and other molecules from the gel matrix of gel electrophoresis.
Sections of the gel containing the desired sample were excised and placed into a piece of dialysis tubing. The tubing was secured to the bottom of the chamber using small clips buried in a layer of modeling clay at the bottom of the chamber. Once tubing was secured, the chamber was filled with a buffer solution. An electric current was run through the chamber, causing molecules of interest to migrate across the dialysis tubing into the buffer, from which they were collected.
The modeling clay was not originally part of the chamber, but was purchased from a toy store and pressed onto the bottom of the chamber by scientists in order to provide a way to secure the clips to the bottom.
Source:
Interview with Dan Yansura, Genentech scientist, 12/20/2012
Location
Currently not on view
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.15
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.15
This inverted microscope was used at Genentech, a biotechnology company. In a traditional light microscope (the kind most often used in high school biology classes), the light source comes from below a slide-mounted specimen and the observer views it from above.
Description (Brief)
This inverted microscope was used at Genentech, a biotechnology company. In a traditional light microscope (the kind most often used in high school biology classes), the light source comes from below a slide-mounted specimen and the observer views it from above. By contrast, an inverted microscope’s light source comes from above and the sample is viewed from the bottom.
This configuration eliminates the need for slide-mounting the specimen for observation and allows the observer to view samples in flasks or petri dishes. For this reason the inverted microscope is particularly useful in work with living cells and tissue culture, allowing both observation and manipulation of the sample.
Sources:
Goldstein, David. “Inverted Microscope.” Microscopy-UK. 1998. http://microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/indexmag.html?http://microscopy-uk.org.uk/mag/artjul98/invert.html
Olympus. “Inverted biological microscope.” http://www.olympus-global.com/en/corc/history/story/micro/headstand/
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1995
circa 1970
user
Genentech, Inc.
maker
Olympus
ID Number
2012.0198.60
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.60
This object is a micropipettor for measuring and transferring small, precise volumes of liquid. It was used by scientists at Genentech, a biotechnology company, for small reactions such as digesting DNA.The micropipettor was developed by Dr.
Description (Brief)
This object is a micropipettor for measuring and transferring small, precise volumes of liquid. It was used by scientists at Genentech, a biotechnology company, for small reactions such as digesting DNA.
The micropipettor was developed by Dr. Warren Gilson in 1972.
Sources:
Gilson, “About Us.” http://www.pipetman.com/AboutUs.aspx
Zinnen, Tom. “The Micropipette Story.” WisconIngenuity. http://www.biotech.wisc.edu/outreach/pipettestory.html
Location
Currently not on view
date made
January 1986-January 1991
user
Genentech, Inc.
maker
Gilson, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.34
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.34
serial number
D20630A
This white plastic electrophoresis comb has five wide tines, one of which has been modified into two smaller tines.Electrophoresis combs are used to create the wells in gels for electrophoresis, a technique that uses the electrical charges of molecules to separate them by their l
Description (Brief)
This white plastic electrophoresis comb has five wide tines, one of which has been modified into two smaller tines.
Electrophoresis combs are used to create the wells in gels for electrophoresis, a technique that uses the electrical charges of molecules to separate them by their length. It is often used to analyze DNA fragments. When a gel is poured, a comb is inserted. After the gel solidifies, the comb is removed, leaving wells for samples.
Location
Currently not on view
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.20
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.20
This silver metal canister once contained DNA-polymerase, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology.
Description (Brief)
This silver metal canister once contained DNA-polymerase, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology. In living organisms, it plays an important role in DNA replication and repair, by helping to speed along the process of linking together nucleotide bases into the chains that make up DNA.
This particular canister of DNA-polymerase was used in DNA sequencing efforts at the labs at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the early 1980s.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1983-08-16
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.23
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.23
This silver metal canister once contained Sau 3AI, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology.
Description (Brief)
This silver metal canister once contained Sau 3AI, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology. Sau 3AI belongs to a class of enzymes known as restriction enzymes, which are useful for their ability to cleave DNA only at locations containing specific sequences of nucleotides, the small chemical units which make up the longer DNA molecule. Sau 3AI recognizes the sequence GATC and will cut before the G.
This particular canister of Sau 3AI was used to create recombinant DNA molecules at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the early 1980s.
Source:
GeneON, “Sau3AI.” http://www.taq-dna.com/sau3ai-_91.html
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1985-09
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.28
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.28
This silver metal canister once contained Hind III, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology.
Description (Brief)
This silver metal canister once contained Hind III, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology. Hind III belongs to a class of enzymes known as restriction enzymes, which are useful for their ability to cleave DNA only at locations containing specific sequences of nucleotides, the small chemical units that make up the longer DNA molecule. Hind III recognizes the sequence TTCGAA and will cut between the A’s.
This particular canister of Hind III was used to create recombinant DNA molecules at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the early 1980s.
Source:
GeneON, “Hind III.” http://www.taq-dna.com/hindiii-_76.html
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1985-01
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.29
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.29
This white plastic electrophoresis comb has 20 tines.Electrophoresis combs are used to create the wells in gels for electrophoresis, a technique that uses the electrical charges of molecules to separate them by their length. It is often used to analyze DNA fragments.
Description (Brief)
This white plastic electrophoresis comb has 20 tines.
Electrophoresis combs are used to create the wells in gels for electrophoresis, a technique that uses the electrical charges of molecules to separate them by their length. It is often used to analyze DNA fragments. When a gel is poured, a comb is inserted. After the gel solidifies, the comb is removed, leaving wells for samples.
Location
Currently not on view
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.18
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.18
This inoculating turntable consists of a circular platform that rotates on its base. A petri dish was placed on the turntable, which was spun by hand.
Description (Brief)
This inoculating turntable consists of a circular platform that rotates on its base. A petri dish was placed on the turntable, which was spun by hand. This allowed a laboratory technician to streak bacteria onto the dish in even concentric circles.
It was used in the laboratories at Genentech, a biotechnology company.
Source:
Fischer Scientific. “Fischer Scientific Inoculating Turntables.” http://www.fishersci.com/ecomm/servlet/fsproductdetail_10652_791058__-1_0
Location
Currently not on view
user
Genentech, Inc.
maker
Fisher Scientific Company
ID Number
2012.0198.53
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.53
This silver metal canister once contained Eco RI, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology.
Description (Brief)
This silver metal canister once contained Eco RI, an enzyme commonly used in molecular biology. Eco RI belongs to a class of enzymes known as restriction enzymes, which are useful for their ability to cleave DNA only at locations containing specific sequences of nucleotides, the small chemical units that make up the longer DNA molecule. Eco RI recognizes the sequence GAATTC and will cut between the G and first A.
This particular canister of Eco RI was used to create recombinant DNA molecules at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the early 1980s.
Source:
National Library of Medicine Medical Subject Headings. “Deoxyribonuclease EcoRI.” http://www.nlm.nih.gov/cgi/mesh/2011/MB_cgi?mode=&term=Eco-RI
Location
Currently not on view
date made
1985-03
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.27
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.27
Activase is a recombinant pharmaceutical that is administered intravenously. Approved by the FDA on November 13, 1987, it contains tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), an enzyme that helps dissolve blood clots.
Description (Brief)
Activase is a recombinant pharmaceutical that is administered intravenously. Approved by the FDA on November 13, 1987, it contains tissue plasminogen activator (tPA), an enzyme that helps dissolve blood clots. Although Activase was originally developed to treat heart attack (acute myocardial infarction), it is now also used to treat stroke (acute ischemic stroke) and blood clots in the lungs (pulmonary embolism).
Recombinant pharmaceuticals are created by inserting genes from one species into a host species, often yeast or bacteria, where they do not naturally occur. The genes code for a desired product, and therefore the genetically modified host organisms can be grown and used as a kind of living factory to produce the product. In this case, genes coding for tPA are inserted into cultured Chinese hamster ovary cells. The ovary cells produce tPA, which is harvested and used as the active ingredient in Activase.
Object consists of a white cardboard box with red and blue printing. Box contains two round, clear glass bottles, two product inserts, and one "Transofix" transfer device. One bottle contains sterile water for injection and has a plastic magenta lid and white label with black print. One bottle contains Activase and has plastic blue lid, a white label with blue and red printing and a white plastic base. The Transofix device is used to mix the sterile water and powdered Activase to reconstitute the medicine for administration.
Location
Currently not on view
date made
before 1994
maker
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0046.42
catalog number
2012.0046.42
accession number
2012.0046
This power supply was used to provide an electric current for gel electrophoresis and electroelution in the lab at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the early 1980s.Currently not on view
Description (Brief)
This power supply was used to provide an electric current for gel electrophoresis and electroelution in the lab at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the early 1980s.
Location
Currently not on view
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.59
catalog number
2012.0198.59
accession number
2012.0198
This vertical chamber for gel electrophoresis was made in 1974 for the Stanley Cohen lab at Stanford University. Gel electrophoresis was one of the most important tools Cohen and Boyer used to analyze the effects of restriction enzymes on plasmids.
Description (Brief)
This vertical chamber for gel electrophoresis was made in 1974 for the Stanley Cohen lab at Stanford University. Gel electrophoresis was one of the most important tools Cohen and Boyer used to analyze the effects of restriction enzymes on plasmids. The technique allows a way to visualize and isolate molecules by separating them out according to their length using an electrical current (for power supply see object 1987.0757.27).
For more information on the Cohen/Boyer experiments with recombinant DNA see object 1987.0757.01
Sources:
Accession file
Location
Currently not on view
user
Cohen, Stanley N.
ID Number
1987.0757.14
catalog number
1987.0757.14
accession number
1987.0757
This white plastic electrophoresis comb is made from hard plastic and has 15 tines.Electrophoresis combs are used to create the wells in gels for electrophoresis, a technique that uses the electrical charges of molecules to separate them by their length.
Description (Brief)
This white plastic electrophoresis comb is made from hard plastic and has 15 tines.
Electrophoresis combs are used to create the wells in gels for electrophoresis, a technique that uses the electrical charges of molecules to separate them by their length. It is often used to analyze DNA fragments. When a gel is poured, a comb is inserted. After the gel solidifies, the comb is removed, leaving wells for samples.
Location
Currently not on view
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.21
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.21
This electrophoresis comb is made from flimsy white plastic and has 20 tines.
Description (Brief)
This electrophoresis comb is made from flimsy white plastic and has 20 tines. Scientists at Genentech in the late 1970s made this comb themselves by cutting it out of a sheet of plastic.
Electrophoresis combs are used to create the wells in gels for electrophoresis, a technique that uses the electrical charges of molecules to separate them by their length. It is often used to analyze DNA fragments. When a gel is poured, a comb is inserted. After the gel solidifies, the comb is removed, leaving wells for samples.
Location
Currently not on view
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.22
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.22
This object is part of a set-up for vertical gel electrophoresis. Gel electrophoresis is a technique that uses the electrical charges of molecules to separate them by their length.
Description (Brief)
This object is part of a set-up for vertical gel electrophoresis. Gel electrophoresis is a technique that uses the electrical charges of molecules to separate them by their length. It is often used to analyze DNA fragments.
This set-up was cobbled together by scientists in the lab at Genentech, a biotechnology company, in the late 1970s and used through the 1980s. Its different components were purchased from several suppliers in the San Francisco Bay area and assembled together with binder clips.
Because of its short length, this device was primarily used to perform preparative and analytical DNA work rather than sequencing, which requires a long length to provide greater resolution.
Source:
Interview with Dan Yansura, Genentech scientist, 12/20/2012
Location
Currently not on view
user
Genentech, Inc.
ID Number
2012.0198.03
accession number
2012.0198
catalog number
2012.0198.03

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