Molecular Updates for Chicken and Zebrafish Embryology Laboratory Exercises

发育生物学的本科实验室通常仅限于经典胚胎学的实验，而且实验产品不包括使用现代分子和遗传工具取得的进展。本项目将研究文献中的方法运用到本科课堂中，分为两个模块。第一个模块是将电穿孔技术应用于鸡胚胎，这样学生就可以引入含有分子的DNA结构，这些分子可以指定肢体类型或诱导异位翅膀的形成。第二个模块涉及将morpholinos引入斑马鱼胚胎，以减少影响心脏发育的特定分子的翻译。拟议中的改变通过引入分子技术，更新了杜克大学“发育与分子遗传学实验”课程中提供的传统实验室。由于鸡和斑马鱼随处可见且易于培养，这些练习可能对有兴趣将分子技术添加到发育生物学实验室的教师具有广泛的吸引力。因此，正在向教育杂志提交有关演习的说明供出版，在网上提供，并在会议上公布。该项目的更广泛影响包括：加强师资队伍的发展，以及在本科教育中整合研究和技术。

Undergraduate labs in developmental biology are usually limited to experiments in classical embryology, and the experimental offerings do not include advances made using modern molecular and genetic tools. This project is adapting and implementing methods from the research literature into the undergraduate classroom in two modules. The first module is adapting electroporation technology for chicken embryos, so students can introduce DNA constructs containing molecules that can specify limb type or induce ectopic wing formation. The second module involves introducing morpholinos into zebrafish embryos to reduce translation of specific molecules that affect heart development. The proposed changes update traditional laboratories offered in the Duke course, Experiments in Development and Molecular Genetics, by introducing molecular technology. Because the chickens and zebrafish are widely available and easy to culture, these exercises may have broad appeal for instructors interested in adding molecular technology to developmental biology laboratories. Therefore, descriptions of the exercises are being submitted to educational journals for publication, made available on the web and publicized at meetings. The broader impacts of the project include: the enhancement of faculty development and the integration of research and technology in undergraduate education.