A Cell Culture Core Facility and Equipment for InvestigativeExperiments in Cell Biology for the Undergraduate Curriculum

点击翻译按钮获取中文摘要

Undergraduate exposure to modern methods in cell biology is crucial to a sound biological or biochemical education because of the central, integrative role that cellular studies play in modern bioscience. At present, important aspects of modern cellular studies are missing from our laboratory curriculum. We propose to remedy this by the purchase of equipment that would allow the addition of investigation-based labs that utilize cell culture, substantively improving courses in the biology and chemistry departments at both the introductory and advanced levels. Many fascinating phenomena are readily approached using cells grown in vitro, and innovative lab additions will afford students new opportunities to conduct experiments in exciting areas of current cell biology, including investigations of dynamic processes in live cells. These activities will furnish striking insights into various cellular mechanisms, and will kindle student awareness of the relevance of cellular studies to diverse disciplines. This should lead more students to consider career paths in cellular bioscience. In addition to use in formal laboratory classes, proposed equipment will see further student use in honors research, independent research during the academic year, and summer research. This project will thus allow us to fill important gaps in our curriculum, and also to broaden the scope of undergraduate research at Kenyon. The project will be implemented by a team of four faculty from the biology and chemistry departments. We plan thorough evaluation of new labs and extensive dissemination of successful experiments through print and electronic media. In a novel use of student-generated data, we will with ongoing student involvement, create online notebooks that will allow any individual with WWW access to conduct investigations that mimic our students' experiences. We expect that our dissemination efforts will not only lead to emulation of some of our labs, but will stimulate remote, virtual investigations of exciting cellular phenomena. Hence, this project has potential to furnish widely-used improvements in biology education.