Antibodies as Tools in Cell Biology

生物系正在实施一项修订后的课程，通过调查实验室强调科学的过程。学生在第一年开始学习生物体的结构和功能以及进化和生态学课程。在第二年，学生们学习分子遗传学和细胞生物学的课程。后一门课程将强调蛋白质在细胞中的作用，是课程改进的主要目标之一。一门现代的细胞生物学课程正在讲授，强调细胞是如何被研究的。在以前的课程中学习了许多应用分子遗传学技术来研究细胞的学生，现在可以参加新课程中关于抗体作为细胞生物学工具的新章节。在这个项目中，低温恒温器快速而容易地准备冰冻切片，并保存来自各种标本的蛋白质的抗原性。然后，这些冰冻切片被商业上可用的抗体染色，与使用石蜡包埋材料的旧方法相比，成功的可能性更大。使用抗体作为研究蛋白质分布的工具，也是发育生物学高级课程、少数族裔高中生暑期课程以及生物系和心理学系研究项目的主要实验室的一部分。此外，还将强调使用这种现代仪器，与其他学生交流结果。为了强调这一点，并提高学生的光学显微镜培训，还将购买一台配备荧光显微镜、光学显微镜和视频成像的研究型教学显微镜。这种显微镜使一组学生可以一起查看他们的结果，而不是孤立地查看。这种新的显微镜还允许学生对他们的结果进行永久记录，以供以后分析。

The Department of Biology is implementing a revised curriculum that emphasizes the process of science through investigative laboratories. Students begin their study of biology with courses in Structure and Function of Organisms and Evolution and Ecology in the first year. In the second year, students take courses in Molecular Genetics and The Biology of Cells. The latter course, which will emphasize the roles of proteins in cells, is one of the primary targets of curricular improvements. A modern course in cell biology is being taught by emphasizing how cells are studied. Students who have learned many applications of techniques in molecular genetics to study cells from their prior coursework can now attend a new section on antibodies as tools in cell biology in the new course. For this project, a cryostat prepares frozen sections quickly and easily and preserves the antigenicity of proteins from various specimens. These frozen sections are then stained with commercially available antibodies with a greater likelihood of success than the old method of using paraffin-embedded material. Use of antibodies as tools to study protein distribution is also a major part of the laboratories in an upper-level course in developmental biology, a summer program for minority high school students, and research projects in both the biology and psychology departments. In addition the use of this modern instrumentation, communication of results to other students will be emphasized. For this emphasis and for improvment of students' training in light microscopy, a research-quality teaching microscope equipped for fluorescence microscopy, photomicroscopy, and video imaging is also being purchased. This microscope makes it possible for groups of students to view their results together instead of in isolation. This new microscope also allows students to have a permanent record of their results for later analysis.