Laboratory facilities
The Sainsbury Laboratory’s communal laboratory facilities provide flexible, well‑equipped spaces that support plant growth, experimental research and detailed analysis. Shared resources range from tissue culture rooms and specialised growth cabinets to advanced laboratory equipment, central autoclave and media services, and Level 2 containment facilities for regulated microorganism research.
Communal laboratory facilities
Our shared facilities support a wide range of plant science research, with flexible, well-equipped spaces for growth, analysis and experimentation.
Plant growth cabinets and tissue culture rooms
We offer five purpose-built tissue culture rooms and a collection of standalone growth cabinets customisable for different requirements.
The tissue culture rooms provide stable conditions for plant growth, with:
- Horizontal airflow across six shelves per room
- Temperature range of 18–28°C
- Lighting set at 85 µmol m⁻² s⁻¹
- Five rooms set to 16-hour day cycles
- Three rooms at 21°C, one with LED lighting, and two at 24°C
- No humidity control
Additional growth cabinets can be booked for experiments requiring specific or customised conditions.
We offer five purpose-built tissue culture rooms and a collection of standalone growth cabinets customisable for different requirements.
Laboratory equipment
Researchers have access to a range of shared equipment, including:
- Laminar flow hoods
- qPCR light cyclers
- Microbiological safety cabinets
- Plate readers
- Freeze dryer
- Automated liquid handling (Hamilton pipetting robot)
Autoclave and media service
Our central service supports daily laboratory work by providing:
- Glassware washing
- Production of large volumes of sterile consumables and glassware
- Autoclaving
- Preparation of a diverse and customisable selection of media
Our shared facilities support a wide range of plant science research, with flexible, well-equipped spaces for growth, analysis and experimentation.
Level 2 containment facility
Our Level 2 containment facilities enable safe, regulated research with licensed plant-pathogenic microorganisms.
These include a dedicated containment laboratory and a controlled environment room (CER). The laboratory is equipped with:
- Growth cabinets
- Microbiological safety cabinet
- Fluorescence dissecting microscope
- Inverted light microscope
Together, these facilities support the cultivation, propagation and detailed analysis of microorganisms in a controlled setting.