Establishment of a Cellular and Molecular Biochemistry Laboratory for Undergradute Teaching and Research

9451580 Danowski在过去的四年里，联合学院生物系聘请了三名在现代细胞、分子和生化技术方面具有专业知识的初级教员。作为我们将学生以前没有的方法和技术融入我们实验室课程的努力的一部分，我们建议建立一个专门的细胞和分子生物化学实验室，该实验室将用于四个高水平的本科课程以及独立的学生项目。具体地说，我们希望(1)让我们的学生熟悉研究和医学实验室中使用的现代技术，(2)通过使用计算机辅助成像、可视化和设计程序来扩展他们对细胞和分子结构、功能和工程的理解，(3)发展一种综合的实验室体验，展示生物化学、细胞和分子生物学的跨学科性质，以及(4)允许学生在实验室发展独立的能力和能力，这些能力反过来可以应用于独立的研究项目。为了实现这些目标，我们首先建立了三门新的和一门重新设计的实验室/讲座课程，这些课程结合了基本的分子技术和有限的计算机分析。然而，为了实现我们的目标，我们需要更多的实验室和成像设备、显微镜、计算机和软件。通过为这些课程和学生研究设计单一的实验室设施，我们消除了对重复设备的需求，并为我们的学生提供了一个专门的工作空间，供他们在课外工作。实验室部分将保持较小的规模(8-10名学生)，从而有可能进行更复杂的实验，提供更广泛的监督，以及更现实的研究实验室环境。

9451580 Danowski Over the past four years, the Union College Biology department has hired three junior faculty members with expertise in modern cellular, molecular and biochemical techniques. As part of our efforts to incorporate methodologies and techniques not previously available to our students into our laboratory curriculum, we propose to establish a dedicated Cellular and Molecular Biochemistry Laboratory, which will be used for four upper level undergraduate courses as well as for independent student projects. Specifically, we want to (1) familiarize our students with modern techniques used in research and medical laboratories, (2) extend their understanding of cellular and molecular structure, function and engineering through the use of computer-aided imaging, visualization and design programs, (3) Develop an integrated laboratory experience demonstrating the interdisciplinary nature of biochemistry, cell, and molecular biology, and (4) allow students to develop an independence and competence in the laboratory that can in turn be applied to the pursuit of independent research projects. To accomplish these goals, we have begun by establishing three new and one redesigned laboratory/lecture courses, which incorporate basic molecular techniques and limited computer analysis. However, to achieve our goals, we need additional laboratory and imaging equipment, microscopes, computers and software. By designing a single laboratory facility for these courses and for student research, we eliminate the need for duplicated equipment and provide a dedicated workspace for our students to work outside of class. Laboratory sections will be kept small (8-10 students), making it-possible to undertake more complex experiments, provide more extensive supervision, and a more realistic research lab environment.