We created a 2-week, dual-module summer course introducing high school students to environmental toxicology by teaching them quantitative polymerase chain reaction (qPCR) as a way to quantify gene expression of chemical defense proteins in response to exposure to environmental pollutants. During the course, students are guided through the various…

"Beer Brewing: Chemical and Biochemical Principles" is a 15 week laboratory and lecture course specifically designed for nonscience majors as an introduction to science literacy via structured laboratory experiments that encourage student engagement. It provides students with a foundation in chemical and biochemical principles using a…

The COVID-19 outbreak has had a significant impact on higher education worldwide. In-person courses had to be quickly transited to online, including lab courses embedded with Course-based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs). In response to this challenge, we successfully converted a fully in-person biochemistry lab that integrated with a…

A semester-long hypothesis-driven laboratory project for second-semester biochemistry has been developed. Working independently, students propose a hypothesis about the role of one amino acid residue in the active site of 5,10-methenyltetrahydrofolate synthetase (MTHFS). They then test this hypothesis by site-directed mutagenesis of a plasmid…

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…

Laboratory sessions are designed to develop the experimental skills and the acquaintance with instruments that may contribute to a successful career in Biochemistry and associated fields. This study is a report on improving a traditional Biochemistry course by devising the laboratory sessions as an inquiry-based environment to develop the…

Potency assays of pharmaceutical products are designed to measure the amount of an active ingredient in a sample. They are important quality control tools for all medications, including intravenous (IV) admixture fluid bags which are commonly prepared by pharmacists in healthcare facilities via extemporaneous compounding. An interdisciplinary…

This biochemistry laboratory course was designed to provide significant learning experiences to expose students to different ways of succeeding as scientists in academia and foster development and improvement of their potential and competency as the next generation of investigators. To meet these goals, the laboratory course employs three…

We describe a 10-week laboratory course of guided research experiments thematically linked by topic, which had an ultimate goal of strengthening the undergraduate research-teaching nexus. This undergraduate laboratory course is a direct extension of faculty research interests. From DNA isolation, characterization, and mutagenesis, to protein…

Research-based learning in a teaching environment is an effective way to help bring the excitement and experience of independent bench research to a large number of students. The program described here is the second of a two-semester biochemistry laboratory series. Here, students are empowered to design, execute and analyze their own experiments…

Undergraduate and graduate engineering training differ significantly. The former looks to established protocols and formulas to design and control processes while the latter often involves questioning established protocols and formulas to better suit and describe phenomena. Although we do not dispute the benefits of practical hands-on approaches,…

Creates an advanced biochemistry laboratory course that focuses on the development of experimental design and troubleshooting skills which provide students with the opportunity to design and evaluate their own experiments through semester-long independent projects with a common theme. Indicates that students were often frustrated but felt that the…

Discusses a special topics biochemistry course that uses membrance phenomena to illustrate the interplay of many physical chemistry principles. (MLH)

Describes an experimental biochemistry course designed to teach basic biochemical techniques using an unstudied enzyme as the experimental material. Explains the schedule of experiments designed for the course and lists the sources used. (GS)