Terms to be familiar with before you start to solve the test: ion exchange chromatography, polynucleotides, oligonucleotides, radioactive labeling, template, primer, DNA polymerase, reverse transcriptase, helicase, nucleoside triphosphates, nucleoside diphosphates, nucleoside monophosphates, nucleosides, 5'-end and 3'-end, bacteriophage,…

In "Photobacterium," the flavin reductase encoded by "lux"G regenerates the reduced form of flavin mononucleotide (FMN). Reduced FMN is one of the substrates of the luciferase enzyme that catalyzes a light-emitting reaction. A set of experiments, that employs a "lux"G-expression plasmid construct (pGhis) and is suitable for an undergraduate…

Terms to be familiar with before you start to solve the test: genetic code, translation, synthetic polynucleotide, leucine, serine, filter precipitation, radioactivity measurement, template, mRNA, tRNA, rRNA, aminoacyl-tRNA synthesis, ribosomes, degeneration of the code, wobble, initiation, and elongation of protein synthesis, initiation codon.…

In an effort to achieve high success in knowledge and technique acquisition as a whole, a biochemistry and molecular biology experiment was established for high-grade biotechnology specialty students after they had studied essential theory and received proper technique training. The experiment was based on cloning and expression of alkaline…

Students often have an oversimplified view of biological facts, which may hinder subsequent understanding when conceptual complexity gives rise to cognitive conflicts. To avoid this situation here, we present a PBL approach for the analysis of Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS), which integrates a variety of topics in cell biology, genetics, and…

Terms to be familiar with before you start to solve the test: tryptophan, transcription unit, operon, "trp" repressor, corepressor, operator, promoter, palindrome, initiation, elongation, and termination of transcription, open reading frame, coupled transcription/translation, chromosome-polysome complex. (Contains 2 figures and 1 footnote.)

The Strasbourg University PhD school in Life and Health Sciences launched an initiative called "OpenLAB." This project was developed in an effort to help high school teenagers understand theoretical and abstract concepts in genetics. A second objective of this program is to help students in defining their future orientation and to attract them to…

This paper presents a problem-solving test that deals with the regulation of the "trp" operon of "Escherichia coli." Two mutants of this operon are described: in mutant A, the operator region of the operon carries a point mutation so that it is unable to carry out its function; mutant B expresses a "trp" repressor protein unable to bind…

We have developed and implemented a serial experiment in molecular cloning laboratory course for undergraduate students majored in biotechnology. "Pseudomonas putida xylE" gene, encoding catechol 2, 3-dioxygenase, was manipulated to learn molecular biology techniques. The integration of cloning, expression, and enzyme assay gave students a chance…

This article describes a new approach to teaching bioinformatics using "Arabidopsis" genetic sequences. Several open-ended and inquiry-based laboratory exercises have been designed to help students grasp key concepts and gain practical skills in bioinformatics, using "Arabidopsis" leucine-rich repeat receptor-like kinase (LRR RLK) genetic…

Laboratory exercises, which utilize alkaline phosphatase as a model enzyme, have been developed and used extensively in undergraduate biochemistry courses to illustrate enzyme steady-state kinetics. A bioinformatics laboratory exercise for the biochemistry laboratory, which complements the traditional alkaline phosphatase kinetics exercise, was…

A simple, rapid method for generating complex genetic profiles using Alu-based markers was recently developed for students primarily at the undergraduate level to learn more about forensics and paternity analysis. On the basis of the Cold Spring Harbor Allele Server, which provides an excellent tool for analyzing a single Alu variant, we present a…

A new computer-based molecular visualization tool has been developed for teaching, and learning, molecular structure. This java-based jmol Amalgamated Molecular Visualization Learning Environment (jAMVLE) is platform-independent, integrated, and interactive. It has an overall graphical user interface that is intuitive and easy to use. The…

This article describes the use of poster preparation and display as an assessment tool and includes feedback from the students and academics concerned. This alternative approach has been used for four years since 2000 for biological science students studying biochemistry. The object of this approach was to get away from traditional teaching…

The extensive use of commercial kits in molecular biology and biochemistry has prompted us to design a series of practical sessions to help students become familiar with the uses and limitations of pre-packaged assay systems. To facilitate an understanding of these assay systems and to promote reflection on their appropriate use, students…