Cytochrome c: A Biochemistry Laboratory

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The Department of Chemistry is developing a new biochemistry laboratory course and obtaining equipment for this laboratory. The Department has not previously offered a biochemistry laboratory course, and no comparable course has been offered elsewhere at the university. Thus, the new course fills a void in the department's curricula. The course consists of 1 hour of lecture and 6 hours of laboratory a week for 3 credits. The concept behind this course is to avoid filling the time with a collection of miscellaneous laboratory experiments. Instead, the course focuses on the process of biochemical research. The laboratory deals entirely with cytochrome c, simulating the experience of a real-world research project. The laboratory is being built around team learning. Teams of students isolate cytochrome c, characterize it by a variety of biochemical and bioinorganic methods, determine its function, and modify the protein to produce a chemical nuclease. This process introduces them to the bio-organic chemistry of nucleic acids. Students are being well prepared to continue their undergraduate education in biochemistry by performing undergraduate research and taking additional biochemistry courses. By exposing the students to the excitement of research problems, the course is supporting their interests in pursuing careers in biochemical research. *