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Biology 350: Cell Biology Laboratory
Noteto students taking the course: all the course material is available on Angel
Overview:
The Cell Biology Laboratory course focuses on learning and applyingselected Cell Biology techniques to a specific research independentproject. Time constraints limit our study to experiments that canbe conducted within the laboratory period (3 hours).
The first portion of the course will focus on cell fractionation andidentification of protein constituents of the cytoskeleton (proteinelectrophoresis and Western blotting). The second portion of thecourse focuses on visualization of cell organelles (vital staining) andcytoskeletal elements (using immunocytochemistry), and functionalproperties of the cytoskeleton (cell motility). The last portionof the course utilizes these techniques conduct independent researchprojects on cultured cells derived from chick embryos.
This course is a writing intensive course. In this course, thelab reports will be written in the format of a primary researcharticle; this includes writing style, density of content, andreferencing of material.
CourseObjectives:
Upon completion of this course, students will be expected to:
- Understand the principles and concepts behind basic techniques used bycell biologists, and apply your knowledge of these techniques to novelexperiments probing cell structure and function.
- Be able to read primary journal articles within the field of cellbiology, interpret the author’s findings, and communicate your insightsorally and verbally.
- Be able to maintain a detailed and accurate laboratory notebook, andcommunicate your lab results in the format of a scientific paper
Prerequisites::
Students who take this course should have successfully completedBiology 142 and 142 (lecture and lab). It is recommended (but notrequired) that students take a 200- level laboratory course prior totaking Biology 350. Students must concurrelty enroll in thelecture and laboratory portions of the course.
SampleSyllabus::
1 Light Microscopy and Use of Pipettemen
2 Cell Fractionation
3 Protein Electrophoresis of cell fractions: SDS-PAGE
4 Western Blotting of protein fractions
5 Visualization of Living Cells: Vital Staining
6 & 7 Immunocytochemistry
8 Cell Motility
9 Cell Culture
10-12 Independent Experiments
13-14 Data analysis and discussion
Backgroundimage: cultured chick brain cells, growing in largeclusters. The tubulin cytoskeleton appears red. Images werecreated during the Cell Biology Laboratory course, Fall 2003
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