In 2025, with financial support from the Department of Biochemistry, the Biophysics Instrumentation Facility (BIF) upgraded their equipment to keep the facility on the cutting edge of biochemical research and accommodate increased demands from labs across campus. BIF provides UW–Madison researchers, as well as scientists from other institutions and local biotechnology companies, access to state-of-the-art equipment for characterizing biological molecules.
Ci Ji Lim, professor in the Department of Biochemistry and chair of the faculty and staff committee that helps oversee the facility, notes that the updated facility meets essential needs for a wide array of biochemical research. “There’s a high demand in the department and across campus for tools that can quantify and characterize biomolecular interactions,” says Lim. “But every system is different, and biomolecular interactions range from very weak to very strong. Researchers require different technologies to probe these different interactions, and now, along with the department’s other imaging centers, BIF is helping scientists cover the whole spectrum.”
The updated equipment includes an upgraded calorimeter, which measures the amount of heat released during chemical reactions; a new microscale thermophoresis instrument, used to study binding affinities among biomolecules; and a new mass photometer, which allows researchers to determine the mass of individual biomolecules in solution using small amount of sample. Unlike other available tools, mass photometry does not require molecules to be tagged with molecular labels, meaning that molecules can be measured in their native form.
New and updated equipment includes:
- Nanotemper Monolith X microscale thermophoresis instrument
- Refeyn TwoMP mass photometer with MassFluidix HC option
- Malvern MicroCal PEAQ isothermal titration calorimeter
- Malvern MicroCal PEAQ differential scanning calorimeter
- Tecan Spark microplate reader
- BMG Labtech CLARIOstar Plus microplate reader
In addition to its cutting-edge equipment, BIF prides itself on its training and services. The facility’s two staff scientists, Darrell McCaslin and Dan Stevens, instruct researchers across campus on how to use the facility’s tools themselves. Last year, more than 100 UW–Madison scientists made use of BIF’s equipment and resources.
“Once you’re trained, you can sign up to use the equipment,” says Stevens. “We train researchers and help them with experimental design as needed. We’re here if people have questions or need help and we’re here to help analyze data. But the end goal for us is for people to be able to use BIF equipment any time, when they need it — we’re open 24/7 — as if it’s equipment in their own lab.”
McCaslin notes that the Department of Biochemistry’s support of BIF has expanded the possibilities for scientific research across the university. “The Department has always seen this as an important resource and one that should be maintained and expanded as needed to meet the needs of our scientific community, from molecular biologists and biochemists to biophysicists and structural biologists.”
Written by Renata Solan.