The biological laboratories are located directly above the experiment hall. They host a large state-of-the-art wet lab area surrounded by specialized rooms and allow for sample preparation starting from cell culture, through centrifugation, protein purification and finally crystallisation, as well as the subsequent sample analysis.
Biology Laboratories
The biology user laboratories have been designed and built in collaboration with the XBI User Consortium. A large part of the laboratory facility and equipment has been financed, constructed, and commissioned by the consortium members.
Wet Lab
Wet lab area offers lab bench space and general lab equipment, but also more specialised equipment such as plate and cuvette DLS devices, spectrophotometers and stereomicroscopes.
For the preparation of samples under anaerobic or other specific conditions, a glovebox is available.
Crystallisation Room
The crystallisation room is equipped with pipetting robots, crystal incubators and the latest SONICC device to enable rapid high-throughput crystallisation trials and protein crystal identification.
Electron Microscopy Room
For the highest imaging demands, a JEOL 200kV cryo-TEM is available, together with a cryo plunger and an ultramicrotome. The room is shared with an AFM NanoWizard 4 from JPK.
To learn more about the available microscopes, see the dedicated microscopy page.
Sample Testing
Test chambers for aerosols, liquid jets and viscous jets are available.
Cold Room
Spacious cold room is equipped with Äkta chromatography system, sonicator and emulsifier for cell lysis.
Upon request, cold room can be turned into a dark room by equipping it with colour-adjustable lighting.
Dark Room
Light sensitive samples can be prepared and handled in the darkroom, which is equipped with a colour-adjustable lighting, shielded crystal incubator and a stereomicroscope with filtered light.
Required training and offered support
The following trainings are required in order to access and perform work in the XBI:
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XBI Bio S1 On-site – offered daily at 11 am. Please send and email to sample.environment@xfel.eu at least one day before the day you would like to join this on-site training.
Support from the XBI Staff is given Monday to Friday, from 9 am until 6 pm. Access and work in the User Laboratories is allowed also outside these hours.
During beamtime, an On-Call-Duty is organized for nights and weekends for urgent cases. The OCD number for XBI Staff is known to the beamline scientists.
The laboratory offers areas with biological safety level 1 and 2 (BSL1 and BSL2), allowing work organisms belonging to Risk Group 1 or 2, respectively. For access to BSL2 area, additional on-site training XBI Bio S2 is needed. Prior to any work with RG-1 and RG-2 organisms, a special "Form Z" needs to be submitted and approved. Please note that biological samples of Risk Group 3 and higher are not allowed at European XFEL.
Equipment
For information on the available laboratory equipment and specification, please see the complete list of equipment.
The equipment can be booked via EuXFEL Booking System. The login is possible with EuXFEL/UPEX account.
For overview of chemicals kept in stock, please see the latest inventory list. Please contact us well in advance in case of specific chemicals or large amounts are needed for your experiment.
Contact
For Questions, please contact the Sample Environment and Characterization group: SEC@xfel.eu