Modular Approach to Biotechnology Laboratory Instruction Based on a Novel Green-Fluorescent Protein

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Modular Approach to Biotechnology Laboratory Instruction Based on a Novel Green-Fluorescent Protein This project is developing laboratory modules in biotechnology for secondary school and undergraduate level students and their teachers, based on a unique protein, the green-fluorescent protein (GFP), which serves as an easily visualized reporter for gene expression and all steps in protein purification. Detection requires only a long-wave UV lamp, making the system adaptable to low-budget curricula. Because the protein is so easily visualized, it enhances the students' understanding of molecular biology and biochemistry making each step in the laboratory exercise an exciting experience. Initial concepts for GFP-based laboratory modules were developed at Rutgers in 1989 and have been successfully "field tested" for five years. Nine other institutions including one other major research university, one four-year college, two county colleges, three high schools, one major biochemical supply corporation, and one national laboratory are joining Rutgers in an informal consortium to advance the GFP-based laboratory module concept. Originally isolated from a bioluminescent jellyfish. GFP can now be cloned into other organisms. Thus. the gene and its protein are available for widespread use. The project is developing GFP-based laboratory modules geared for the advanced secondary school and junior college levels. The modular "kit" approach to teaching biotechnology techniques allows both protein purification and recombinant DNA techniques to be transferred to all appropriate settings with only minor modifications. This GFP-based modular approach provides major changes in the way technicians are trained and can be projected on a national scale to be widely applied in the biotechnology community.