Designing a relevant and engaging curriculum for biochemistry undergraduates can be challenging for topics which are at the periphery of the subject. We have used the framework of context-based learning as a means of assessing understanding of quantum theory in a group of students in their junior year. Our context, the role of retinol in skincare,…

Virtual laboratory simulations can contribute to the educational objectives related to practical classes, especially in situations of online or hybrid teaching. We present a proposal for laboratory activity involving the quantification of proteins with the biuret reaction and measurement by visible light spectrometry. The student will be able to…

The COVID-19 pandemic has forced a shift in thinking regarding the safe delivery of wet laboratory courses. While we were fortunate to have the capacity to continue delivering wet laboratory experiments with physical distancing and other measures in place, modifications to the mechanisms of delivery within courses were necessary to minimize risk…

A Microsoft Excel workbook has been developed to simplify the quantitative analysis of experimentally measured titration curves for diprotic and triprotic amino acids such as glycine, arginine, histidine, and glutamate. Students perform the titration, enter the data into the worksheet, and manually adjust the resulting pK[subscript a] values to…

The laboratory practice "Primary culture and directional differentiation of rat bone marrow mesenchymal stem cells (BMSCs)" is part of a required course for sophomore medical students at Tongji university, which has been conducted since 2012. Blended learning has been widely applied in medical courses. Based on a student-centered…

Structures and functions of protein motifs are widely included in many biology-based course syllabi. However, little emphasis is placed to link this knowledge to applications in biotechnology to enhance the learning experience. Here, the conserved motifs of nucleotide binding site-leucine rich repeats (NBS-LRR) proteins, successfully used for the…

Plasma protein binding measurements are an important aspect of pharmacology and drug development. Therefore, performing these measurements can provide a valuable and highly practical learning experience for students across many scientific disciplines. Here, we describe the design and characterization of a 3D-printed device capable of performing…

We have developed an integrated, project-oriented curriculum for undergraduate molecular biology and biochemistry laboratory courses spanning two semesters that is organized around the "ldhA" gene from the yogurt-fermenting bacterium "Lactobacillus bulgaricus," which encodes the enzyme d-lactate dehydrogenase. The molecular…

An introductory bioinformatics laboratory experiment focused on protein analysis has been developed that is suitable for undergraduate students in introductory biochemistry courses. The laboratory experiment is designed to be potentially used as a "stand-alone" activity in which students are introduced to basic bioinformatics tools and…

A multiweek protein purification suite, suitable for upper-division biochemistry or biotechnology undergraduate students, is described. Students work in small teams to isolate the enzyme lactate dehydrogenase (LDH) from a nontraditional tissue source, mammalian blood, using a sequence of three column chromatographic procedures: ion-exchange, size…

Visualization of chemical concepts can be challenging for many students. This is arguably a critical skill for beginning students of biochemistry to develop, since new information is often presented visually in the form of textbook figures. It is recommended that visual literacy be explicitly taught in the classroom rather than assuming that…

To provide a research-like experience to upper-division undergraduate students in a biochemistry teaching laboratory, isothermal titration calorimetry (ITC) is employed to determine the binding constants of lysozyme and its inhibitors, N-acetyl glucosamine trimer (NAG[subscript 3]) and monomer (NAG). The extremely weak binding of lysozyme/NAG is…

Surface plasmon resonance (SPR) spectroscopy is a powerful, label-free technique to monitor noncovalent molecular interactions in real time and in a noninvasive fashion. As a label-free assay, SPR does not require tags, dyes, or specialized reagents (e.g., enzymes-substrate complexes) to elicit a visible or a fluorescence signal. During the last…

Few laboratory procedures describe the use of circular dichroism (CD) at the undergraduate level. To increase the number of laboratory exercises using CD, a thermal denaturation study of myoglobin using CD is described to assess protein stability. Values obtained from a more classic linear data analysis approach are consistent with data analyzed…