The 2011 "Vision & Change" report outlined several recommendations for transforming undergraduate biology education, sparking multiple pedagogical reform efforts. Among these was the Promoting Active Learning and Mentoring (PALM) network, an NSF-funded program that provided mentorship and training to instructors on implementing…

Mastering the complexity of the nervous system is essential for education programs in physiology, anatomy, and neuroscience. Students often struggle when learning somatosensory pathways, which convey information from sensory neurons to the somatosensory cortex in the brain. Active learning activities incorporating physical models have been shown…

The urea cycle disorder drug glycerol phenylbutyrate (Ravicti) is presently one of the most expensive medications in the United States, with annual costs estimated at $800,000 as of 2023. An expedient synthesis of this orphan drug was successfully adapted for the undergraduate organic chemistry laboratory. Activation of 4-phenylbutyric acid with…

In undergraduate life sciences education, open educational resources (OERs) increase accessibility and retention for students, reduce costs, and save instructors time and effort. Despite increasing awareness and utilization of these resources, OERs are not centrally located, and many undergraduate instructors describe challenges in locating…

Liquid metals are widely applied in various fields, including chemistry, catalysis, energy storage, chemical sensing, and stretchable electronics, due to their unique deformabilities. However, their behavior under a rod or ring electrode has never been analyzed. Furthermore, research on the deformation behavior of eutectic Ga--In (EGaIn), the most…

Proteomics, or the study of the set of proteins in an organism, tissue, or cell, is a rapidly growing field within bioanalytical chemistry that can be used to investigate many biological questions. However, proteomics is not fully integrated into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum because of a lack of access to expertise, the cost of required…

Stereoselective reduction of ketones to alcohols using baker's yeast is a classic experiment in the undergraduate laboratory. Here we illustrate the reduction of racemic ethyl 2-fluoro-3-oxobutanoate to the corresponding alcohol using a set of four commercially available ketoreductases (KREDs). The reaction sets two stereocenters with four…

Introduction: Degrees in medicine have been designed with an aim to illustrate the interplay between research and medical application in mind. The guiding principle for this design is that evidence-based medicine will lead to better patient outcomes, which underpin the modus operandi of the General Medical Council and the Department of Health in…

Anaerobic respiration reactions are of fundamental importance to global biogeochemical cycling of elements. Yet, the idea that cellular respiration can occur not only in the absence of oxygen but also involve the oxidation of inorganic substrates (e.g., AsO[subscript 3 superscript 3-], Fe[superscript 2+], H[subscript 2], H[subscript 2]S,…

The variation in the transference number of H[superscript +] (aq) is investigated for different HCl solution concentrations. The method for scribing graduations on electromigration tubes is modified to decrease the error in experimental measurements, and metallic copper is used as the anode to reduce the toxicity and environmental impact of the…

Forward genetics involves the identification of an unknown DNA sequence (genotype) associated with the expression of that sequence (phenotype). This is often done by generating variants (mutants) of that feature. One of the most practical methods is transposon mutagenesis, which facilitates the genotype-phenotype association through a sequence…

A multicomponent reaction was adapted and successfully applied in the major organic course, which involves synthesizing and characterizing a 1,3-benzoxazine derived from paracetamol extracted from tablets of the worldwide well-known medicine Tylenol. Using paracetamol as a reagent is a motivational strategy in undergraduate laboratories to meet…

A mixture of salt water and isopropyl alcohol is immiscible, forming two separate liquids with the organic layer on top and aqueous layer on bottom. When universal indicator is added to such a mixture, all of the indicator compounds in the universal indicator preferentially dissolve in the alcohol--except for phenolphthalein at high pH. Mixtures…

A survey was developed and implemented to determine how pervasively safety principles and cultural expectations are included in the chemistry curriculum at the undergraduate level. The survey was completed by first-year doctoral candidates in the chemical/pharmaceutical sciences. A majority of the respondents were trained in the use of Safety Data…

A laboratory experiment that involves the aqueous and solid phase synthesis, characterization, and solvatochromic properties exploration of red complex [Ni(Me[subscript 3]en)(acac)]BPh[subscript 4] has been developed for first-year undergraduates in the College of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering at Xiamen University. In contrast to previously…