The lateral flow immunoassay (LFIA) is a simple and cost-effective rapid diagnostic test designed for the on-site detection of disease biomarkers. In the context of introducing this technique to undergraduate biotechnology students, we propose a comprehensive 5 h laboratory experiment. This experiment covers various aspects, including the…

Growth in the biomedical and biotechnology sectors requires a highly trained and highly skilled workforce to answer the next great scientific questions. Undergraduate laboratory courses incorporating hands-on training based in authentic research position soon-to-be graduates to learn in environments that mirror those of academic, industrial, and…

Human ageing and age-associated diseases are among the greatest challenges and financial burdens faced by developed countries. Unfortunately, undergraduate students often do not experience any laboratory training in ageing research in the current laboratory curriculum of majors in biology, biotechnology, or medicine. In this study, we developed…

Undergraduates learn that gene editing in diverse organisms is now possible. How targeted manipulation of genes and genomes is utilized in basic science and biomedicine to address biological questions is challenging for undergraduates to conceptualize. Thus, we developed a lab experience that would allow students to be actively engaged in the full…

With the advancement of ribonucleic acid (RNA) research in the field of biochemistry, ensuring that undergraduate students have both the theoretical and practical knowledge of current, cutting-edge experimental techniques is of marked importance. Many current biochemistry experiments demonstrate various basic molecular biological techniques…

Students frequently expressed difficulty in understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in chromosomal recombination. Therefore, we explored alternative methods for presenting the two concepts of the double-strand break model: Holliday junction and heteroduplex formation, and Holliday junction resolution. In addition to a lecture and…

RNA interference (RNAi) is a powerful technology used to knock down genes in basic research and medicine. In 2006 RNAi technology using "Caenorhabditis elegans" ("C. elegans") was awarded the Nobel Prize in medicine and thus students graduating in the biological sciences should have experience with this technology. However,…

This study examined the characteristics of virtual and hands-on inquiry environments for the development of blended learning in a popular domain of bio-nanotechnology: the separation of different-sized DNA fragments using gel-electrophoresis, also known as DNA-fingerprinting. Since the latest scientific developments in nano- and micro-scale tools…

Vanillin, the compound responsible for the well-known vanilla aroma, is almost exclusively produced via a chemical process, with only a small fraction extracted from natural sources, namely, the bean of the orchid "Vanilla planifolia". Research is being done towards a green chemistry process to obtain natural vanillin. A model biotechnological…

A low-cost biochemistry experiment is described that demonstrates current techniques in the use of catalytic DNA molecules and introduces a nonradioactive, nonfluorescent, inexpensive, fast, and safe method for monitoring these nucleic acid reactions. The laboratory involves the exploration of the 10-23 DNA enzyme as it cleaves a specific RNA…

The increasingly interdisciplinary nature of today's scientific research is leading to the transformation of undergraduate education. In addressing these needs, the University of Houston's College of Technology has developed a new interdisciplinary research-based biotechnology laboratory curriculum. Using the pesticide degrading bacterium,…

The Department of Biological Sciences at the University of Wisconsin-Parkside has developed and implemented an innovative, multidisciplinary undergraduate curriculum in Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics (MBB). The objective of the MBB program is to give students a hands-on facility with molecular biology theories and laboratory techniques, an…