Adaptation of a Microtiter Plate Reader in an Undergraduate Biochemistry Laboratory

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In the past several years, combinatorial techniques have revolutionized certain aspects of chemistry. One of the limiting factors in the implementation of this state-of-the-art approach is the need for high-throughput screening techniques. This proposal is adapting several procedures from the educational and commercial literature and implementing them into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum using a 96-well plate reader. Students are monitoring protein folding, conducting enzyme kinetics, screening libraries for phosphatase inhibitors, and developing an ELISA technique with the microtiter plate reader. These activities are introducing students to high-throughput, microtiter plate techniques, providing information for a statistical analysis of a large pool of data, and increasing the capacity for research-based and discovery laboratory activities. In addition, the library screening activity is being adapted for use in an outreach program with minority elementary and middle-school students. The impact of this proposal is being evaluated by student performance in both the laboratory and classroom portion of the course via test and survey questions. Dissemination of the results of this proposal will be presented through a national CUR workshop, publications, and outreach activities.