Course Goals:
Biology 302 is an introductory molecular biology lab course. The mission of the course is to provide students with many opportunities to use technologies that they have learned about but may not have experienced hands on.
Becoming a planner:
Students in Biology 302 will have the opportunity to learn different methods for achieving a goal, and for thinking about why one method may be better suited depending upon the resources available and the questions being asked.
Becoming an expert experimentalist:
Students in Biology 302 will also become expert in a variety of molecular biology techniques from regular practice.
Becoming an experienced science communicator:
Students in Biology 302 will critically think about, write about, and present on the science they are engaged in. Students will write up their experimental results and conclusions. For one of the three units, students will also be asked to research the specific subject (protein) and make an oral presentation.
Course Materials
No textbook is required.
A laboratory manual (from Professional Copy ‘n Print) is required.
A recording notebook is required (3-ring preferred so you can keep track of printouts generated in class).
A calculator is necessary for labs and quizzes.
Access to a computer will be essential for submitting class work and accessing online materials.
Student Learning Objectives
o Understand how to do a variety of experiments
(PCR, gel electrophoresis, sterile technique, cloning, selective plating,
transformation)
o Understand the strengths and weakness of a particular experimental approach
o Understand the importance and purpose of experimental controls
o Become expert from repeated exposure to experimental techniques
o Improve science writing and oral presentation
o Perform experiments wisely, thoughtfully, and with respect for resources
o Improve skills in collaborating with research partners and mentors
Student Responsibilities
Attendance:
In lecture: Lecture material will be available online, however attendance will directly affect your quiz grade. Attendance in lecture shapes our impression of your earnestness regarding class outcomes.
In lab:
Attendance is required. You will not
be docked points for missing a lab, but you will be expected to make up the missed
activities during another lab section’s meeting time.
For quizzes: Attendance is required.
There are no make-up exams for quizzes.
Punctuality:
Labs will start on time with a brief explanation of the more difficult to understand parts of the experiment and any safety precautions. For this reason, punctuality will be essential and students who arrive more than 5 minutes late on more than 2 occasions will suffer point loss (-10 points). Assignments are due on the day and time indicated on the syllabus and at the online assignment submission site. Assignments submitted late will lose 10% of the points for each day late.
Honorable conduct:
Students at this level are expected to be fully informed not only of the consequences of academic misconduct but also the University of Washington's definitions and the reasons why misconduct hurts everyone. Students who abuse the rules of conduct, even one phrase of borrowed text, will be subjected to review by a University disciplinary committee. Visit depts.washington.edu/grading/issue1/honesty.htm to inform yourself, or remind yourself, just how strict the University's stance is on plagiarism and other forms of misconduct.
Assignments
Results and Discussion Papers
PLEASE refer to research papers to know the style of science writing.
Each experiment will end with students submitting a results and discussion paper. This paper should reflect the formal science writing style you have observed in reading primary literature. While not a full paper, writing these four results and conclusions sections will enable you to become more expert at research writing. This is the part of the paper investigators often start with: What did we find and what does it mean?
In science writing, we separate results from discussion. In the result section, you describe what you discovered without any interpretation. Your interpretation of your results belongs in a discussion section.
FORMAL SCIENCE writing means being:
1) Grammatically sound
2) Clear and concise
3) Free of slang and jargon (abbreviations are defined)
4) Objective (sentiment is avoided)
5) Thoroughly cited (for ideas or facts that are not your own)
6) Well-represented graphically or visually with brief figure legends
7) Free from interpretations that are not supported by the data given
Each paper will be submitted using the following steps:
1) Prepare a polished draft for peer review.
2) Participate in peer-reviewing two other drafts during class time (5 points / review session).
Note: You must bring a paper to review a paper.
3) Reviewed papers are returned to the author for revision.
4) Submit a final paper for grading.
Additional things to keep in mind:
o Write your paper with section headers to facilitate organization and comprehension
o Provide data pictorially when relevant (show your gels).
o Write a legend for each figure.
o Refer to your figures in the text.
Always pay attention to online submission requirements such as how to name your file and how to format the file for instructor readability. Files that are submitted with ambiguous file names or unusable file formats will be counted as late.
Oral Presentation
Each research team (maximum 8 students) will present during the yeast two-hybrid screen section about the PROTEIN they are trying to find protein partners for. As each group will investigate related but different proteins, we want all students to be appraised of the importance of each protein with regard to a particular aspect of cell function.
Questions you might consider when planning this presentation:
· For the mutations in the gene that encodes the protein, what are the effects on a cell?
· You are studying this gene in yeast, but are there homologs in other organisms, and from these homologs, what is known about the gene function?
·
What types of analysis were conducted to find interacting protein
partners for this protein?
What conclusions have they helped us reach?
· Use the protein-protein interaction information to build an interactome: a diagram of all the interacting proteins in a network showing all the interactions (with your protein and with others in the network).
· Using a model for how one aspect of cell cycle is regulated, can you describe how your protein fits in with others (with which yours interacts and others) in order to accomplish cell-cycle regulation?
Lab Practical Exam
You will be asked to demonstrate some of the techniques that you have learned during this class. You can look at your notebook and use a calculator, but you cannot use your lab manual during the exam. Having a well-documented notebook will be helpful.