Systematic reviews (SRs) of preclinical studies are marked with poor methodological quality. In vitro studies lack assessment tools to improve the quality of preclinical research. This methodological study aimed to identify, collect, and analyze SRs based on cell culture studies to highlight the current appraisal tools utilized to support the…

The goal of this laboratory exercise is to give upper-level undergraduate students an introduction to sterile technique in mammalian cell culture and metabolism. The experiment can be completed within a 3-h lab period and can be performed either in conjunction with other biochemistry/metabolism experiments or used as a stand-alone experiment. In…

Heart muscle cells, or cardiomyocytes, exhibit intrinsic contractility in vitro. We found that commercially-available mammalian cardiomyocytes serve as an excellent model system for studying the cytoskeleton and cellular contractility, fundamental topics in undergraduate cell and molecular biology courses. Embryonic rat cardiomyocytes were plated…

Often overlooked in many molecular cell biology laboratory and cell culture courses, suspension cells represent an important aspect of molecular cell biology and cell culture. Most primary cell cultures and cell lines are adherent cells which grow in monolayers on surfaces. However, other cells such as hematopoietic cells, certain tumor cells, and…

In this laboratory exercise, students have an opportunity to evaluate the potential endocrine disrupting abilities of environmental chemicals of their choice using human cell culture. Over the course of 9 weeks, students learn how to aseptically handle and manipulate cells, perform and analyze a cytotoxicity assay and an enzyme-linked…

Stem cells are cells that can self-renew and differentiate into a variety of cell types under certain conditions. Stem cells have great potential in regenerative medicine and cell therapy for the treatment of certain diseases. To deliver knowledge about this frontier in science and technology to medical undergraduate students, we designed an…

A challenge in the pandemic era is to implement effective but flexible practical teaching for biological sciences courses. Such teaching needs to deliver conceptual, analytical and practical skills training while having the option to rapidly respond to health and safety issues, local regulations, staff and student concerns. In this paper, we…

Many students in the sciences are interested in exploring research opportunities; however, the one-on-one faculty mentorship model often lacks the ability to supervise large numbers of students. An alternative mechanism for exposing undergraduate students to the research process is participation in a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience…

We discuss the successful creation and implementation of a biotechnology track within the chemical engineering unit operations course. The track focuses on engineering principles relevant to brewing. Following laboratory modules investigating heat transfer processes and yeast fermentation kinetics, student groups design and implement a project to…

Programmed cell death, or apoptosis, is a cellular pathway by which individual cells self-destruct for the benefit of the organism. In this practical paper, we describe laboratory exercises with an inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach in which undergraduate students compared apoptosis among different types of cultured cells. Ultraviolet (UV)…

Most studies of molecular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity have focused on the sequence of changes either at individual synapses or in the cell nucleus. However, studies of long-term facilitation at "Aplysia" sensory neuron--motor neuron synapses in isolated cell culture suggest two additional features of facilitation. First, that there…

Medical, industrial, and basic research relies heavily on the use of viruses and vectors. Therefore, it is important that bioscience undergraduates learn the practicalities of handling viruses. Teaching practical virology in a student laboratory setup presents safety challenges, however. The aim of this article is to describe the design and…

This graduate-level DNA methods laboratory course is designed to model a discovery-based research project and engages students in both traditional DNA analysis methods and modern recombinant DNA cloning techniques. In the first part of the course, students clone the "Drosophila" ortholog of a human disease gene of their choosing using…

Cell migration, a fundamental process in development, wound healing, and immune function, is a common topic in undergraduate cell biology courses. We developed laboratory exercises with an inquiry-based learning (IBL) approach in which cell migration could be examined with the scratch assay, adapted from the primary literature. A narrow scratch…

Translational research means different things to different people. In the biomedical research community, translational research is the process of applying knowledge from basic biology and clinical trials to techniques and tools that address critical medical needs such as new therapies. Translational research then is a "bench to bedside"…