Project Oriented Biochemistry Laboratory Course in a New B.S. Biochemistry Degree Program

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A project-oriented laboratory has been designed to introduce students to the study of biochemistry as it is practiced. This course can be a capstone experience for students from a variety of majors, including those who enter the new Biochemistry program. In keeping with the department's focus on career education, this course is also preparing the students for future employment or graduate education. The specific goals of this proposal are to enable students to study the protein chemistry, enzymology, and molecular biology of a single enzyme in a series of integrated experiments using modern laboratory methods, including chromatography and capillary electrophoresis, and to supplement the learning experience of students enrolled in the biochemistry laboratory and lecture courses with effective molecular visualization and modeling tools. The students use a small computer network to prepare for experiments, using simulation software to access sequence homology databases over the Internet, to visualize proteins and nucleic acids, and to model small organic and biomolecules. The equipment is also being used by students and faculty in organic and analytical chemistry courses. The change in the biochemistry teaching lab from a disjointed collection of experiments using unrelated systems to a series of experiments focused around a single project is a model that can be readily adapted by other educators who can design their courses to focus on a single enzyme or protein with which they are most familiar.