Equipment for Undergraduate Plant Cell and Tissue Culture Laboratories

有了通过该项目购置的设备，植物学和细胞生物学课程中正在引入利用植物细胞和组织培养的新的实验室练习。这些练习使学生接触到植物科学的一个重要领域，该领域目前正在对生物技术领域作出重大贡献。学生们使用相显微镜和荧光显微镜等技术来跟踪分离的单个植物细胞被诱导产生新组织并最终产生全新植物的发育阶段。这一过程生动地向学生们展示了与植物系统一起工作的兴奋，并激发了他们对植物科学领域进一步工作的兴趣——这一领域需要招募更多的女性。该项目有望发展成为一种模式，可以在其他机构中广泛采用。受资助机构将从非联邦来源获得等额的NSF奖励。

With equipment procured through this project, new laboratory exercises using plant cell and tissue culture are being introduced into courses in botany and cell biology. These exercises expose students to an important area of the plant sciences which currently is making significant contributions to the field of biotechnology. Students use techniques such as phase and fluorescence microscopy to follow the stages of development as isolated, individual plant cells are induced to produce new tissue, and eventually to give rise to whole new plants. This process vividly demonstrates to students the excitement of working with plant systems and stimulates interest in further work in the plant sciences -- an area into which additional women need to be recruited. The project holds promise for developing into a model that could be adopted widely in other institutions. The grantee institution is matching the NSF award with an equal sum obtained from non-Federal sources.