| Biology
111 introduces students to important concepts and techniqes used in modern
molecular biology labs. The course follows Biology 109 in the introductory
laboratory sequence as an alternative to Biology 110. After technical
training through planned laboratory exercises during the first two-thirds
of the course, students will design, conduct, and present the results
of an independent research project.
Students
will gain extensive experience in many important molecular biology techniques,
including (but not limited to):
- Isolation,
quantitation, and manipulation of distinct DNA molecules.
- Amplification
of specific DNA sequences using the polymerase chain reaction (PCR).
- Electrophoresis
of nucleic acids.
- Overexpression
of proteins in bacterial hosts.
- Electrophoresis
of proteins.
- Detection
and quantitation of protein expression using western blots.
- Bioinformatics:
The use of computers and public databases to obtain and analyze DNA
and protein sequence information.
- The
arts-and-crafts of presenting scientific data.
- Scientific
writing.
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