Molecular Updates for Chicken and Zebrafish Embryology Laboratory Exercises

发育生物学的本科生实验室通常仅限于经典胚胎学的实验，实验内容不包括使用现代分子和遗传工具取得的进展。本项目分两个模块将研究文献中的方法改编和实施到本科课堂。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形成。第二个模块涉及将吗啡引入斑马鱼胚胎，以减少影响心脏发育的特定分子的翻译。拟议的变化通过引入分子技术，更新了杜克大学课程--发育和分子遗传学实验--中提供的传统实验室。由于鸡和斑马鱼随处可得，而且易于养殖，这些练习可能会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，这些练习的说明正在提交到教育期刊上出版，在网上提供，并在会议上公布。该项目的更广泛影响包括：促进教师发展和将研究与技术整合到本科教育中。

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.