Equipping an Undergraduate Instructional Laboratory with theTools of the Molecular Biologist.

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Recent advances in Molecular Biology and Molecular Genetics are significantly changing the laboratory approaches required for training undergraduates majoring in Biology. The Hunter College faculty has prepared a revised and expanded one-year Molecular Biology course for undergraduate majors which includes two updated laboratory courses in the areas of Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics. The revised and expanded curriculum (emphasizing basic cloning techniques, analysis of the plasmids present in recombinant clones, isolation and characterization of enzymes, and structural analysis of cell surfaces) will give students increases hands-on laboratory experience with molecular procedures and scientific instruments. In addition, increased access to the course for students with limited experience in the tools of scientific investigation will be possible. For the experienced students there is opportunity to expand their existing knowledge by using modern molecular techniques for an independent honors research project. Additional changes in the two laboratory courses are also projected with the utilization of this same equipment. The major items being used to implement these changes include high speed ultra- and micro-centrifuges, a scintillation counter, shaker incubator and a speed-vac system. A large fraction of the students benefitting from these courses are women and/or members of minority groups underrepresented in the Nation's pool of scientists.