Microbiome Core Facility

Our Mission

The human body is the home to approximately 10 000 000 000 bacterial cells that inhabit our gastrointestinal tract, mouth, urogenital tract, and even our skin. Most of these bacteria are uncultivable, which meant in the past that researchers were unable to study and characterize them. The development of metagenomic technologies allow us today to examine microbial communities trough techniques like Terminal Restriction Fragment Length Polymorphism (TRFLP) and Quantitative Polymerase Chain Reaction (q-PCR).

The activities and research program of the Microbiome Core Facility will impact our understanding of the human-associated microbiota and its role in diseases profoundly affecting our society today, including Crohn's disease, colorectal cancer, cystic fibrosis, and diabetes, and will be directly translated into better patient care and prevention programs.

The mission of the Microbiome Core Facility is to provide the research community of the UNC- School of Medicine and the state of North Carolina with the facilities and the know-how to characterize complex microbial communities in a variety of environments. Our goal is to provide state-of-the-art technology at the lowest cost.

Resources available at the MCF include:

• Applied Biosystems AB 3130xl Genetic Analyzer

• Qiagen BioRobot Universal System
• Genetix QPix2 XT Colony Picker System
• Applied Biosystems Real-Time PCR System.

Director: M. Andrea Azcarate-Peril
MCF Location:

Phone number: (919) 966-9838
Email: microbiome@med.unc.edu