This case introduces students to HIV, its life cycle, treatment, and problems associated with treatment options. The case, which incorporates critical thinking skills, active learning, self-directed study, and peer-to-peer learning, was developed for use in an undergraduate upper-level biology course entitled "The Molecular Basis of Disease." It could also be used in an immunology class, a molecular evolution class, or a general biology class to introduce viruses.

" If the twentieth century was the century of physics, the twenty-first promises to be the century of biology. This subject examines the cultural, political, and economic dimensions of biology in the age of genomics, biotechnological enterprise, biodiversity conservation, pharmaceutical bioprospecting, and synthetic biology. Although we examine such social concerns as bioterrorism, genetic modification, and cloning, this is not a class in bioethics, but rather an anthropological inquiry into how the substances and explanations of biology — increasingly cellular, molecular, genetic, and informatic — are changing, and with them broader ideas about the relationship between "nature" and "culture." Looking at such cultural artifacts as cell lines, biodiversity databases, and artificial life models, and using primary sources in biology, social studies of the life sciences, and literary and cinematic materials, we rephrase Erwin Schrödinger's famous 1944 question, "What Is Life?" to ask, in the early 2000s, "What Is Life Becoming?""

This site offers an ask a scientist service, a question of the week, and resources developed and identified by teachers.

This laboratory investigates one form of genetic recombination in bacteria. This process, called conjugation, occurs when one bacteria transfers DNA to another bacteria. Two different strains of Escherichia coli are used: an Hfr strain with the F factor integrated into the bacterial chromosome acting as the donor, and an F-strain lacking the fertility factor acting as a recipient. The F-strain is auxotrophic for certain genetic markers and the ordered transfer of markers from the Hfr strain to the F-strain is used to map gene locations on the bacterial chromosome.

Used in conjunction with lecture material to illustrate genetic mapping.

This "clicker case" is based on the General Biology edition of James Hewlett's "Bad Fish" case in our collection. The case follows the story of biologist Dr. Westwood, who is accidentally poisoned, first while traveling in Asia and then in the South Pacific. Students learn about Dr. Westwood's experiences and about nerve cell physiology-focusing especially on the role of ion channels in maintaining and changing electrical gradients across the cell membrane (resting potential and action potentials). They then apply what they learn in each part of the case to determine the mechanism of neurotoxin poisonings described in the case. The case is presented in class via PowerPoint (~2MB). Students use personal response systems, or "clickers," to answer the multiple-choice questions that punctuate the PowerPoint presentation as they explore the underlying mechanism of Dr. Westwood's poisoning.

In this version, developed for classes in cell and molecular biology, the protagonist of the case, Dr. Westwood, survives an accidental poisoning-not once, but twice. Students read about each incident, applying what they learn in each part of the case to the later sections, and then design a drug to treat the neurotoxin poisoning described in the story. The case comes in three different versions, or editions. This is the Cell & Molecular Biology Edition, which has a different set of questions than the General Biology Edition or the Human Anatomy& Physiology Edition, also in our collection.

Imagine you are a salesman needing to visit 100 cities connected by a set of roads. Can you do it while stopping in each city only once? Even a supercomputer working at 1 trillion operations per second would take longer than the age of the universe to find a solution when considering each possibility in turn. In 1994, Leonard Adleman published a paper in which he described a solution, using the tools of molecular biology, for a smaller 7-city example of this problem. His paper generated enormous scientific and public interest, and kick-started the field of Biological Computing, the main subject of this discussion based seminar course. Students will analyze the Adleman paper, and the papers that preceded and followed it, with an eye for identifying the engineering and scientific aspects of each paper, emphasizing the interplay of these two approaches in the field of Biological Computing. This course is appropriate for both biology and non-biology majors. Care will be taken to fill in any knowledge gaps for both scientists and engineers.

" This course teaches the design of contemporary information systems for biological and medical data. Examples are chosen from biology and medicine to illustrate complete life cycle information systems, beginning with data acquisition, following to data storage and finally to retrieval and analysis. Design of appropriate databases, client-server strategies, data interchange protocols, and computational modeling architectures. Students are expected to have some familiarity with scientific application software and a basic understanding of at least one contemporary programming language (e.g. C, C++, Java, Lisp, Perl, Python). A major term project is required of all students. This subject is open to motivated seniors having a strong interest in biomedical engineering and information system design with the ability to carry out a significant independent project. This course was offered as part of the Singapore-MIT Alliance (SMA) program as course number SMA 5304."

An investigative laboratory developed for the introductory biology curriculum using transgenic plants is presented in this chapter. The transgenic Arabidopsis plants we use contain the GUS reporter gene under the control of the cor15a gene promoter, which responds to cold stress. Following induction by cold or other environmental signals, the gusA gene will respond by producing the enzyme beta-glucuronidase (GUS). When plant tissue is incubated with the chromogenic substrate X-gluc, those tissues that produce GUS turn blue. Using investigative experiments, students monitor both the physiological response of plants to these signals, as well as the induction of gene activity as reflected by GUS activity. The GUS assay is highly visible, safe for the undergraduate laboratory, easy to conduct, and relatively inexpensive. Blue Plants, developed at Purdue University with support from NSF-DUE grant #9354721, are one of the Research Link 2000 systems (http://www.researchlink.ferris.edu).

This dilemma case, designed for use in an undergraduate genetics course, explores the basic genetic concepts underlying the cloning process as well as the ethical, medical, political, economic, and religious issues surrounding human cloning. While the case presents a fictitious scenario, it is based on the story of Charleston attorney and former state delegate Mark Hunt and his wife Tracey, who privately funded human cloning after the death of their infant son Andrew.

This is a hands-on activity to assess the students understanding of peptide and disulfide bonds formed during protein synthesis. Students demonstrate the process of dehydration synthesis by combining amino acids through peptide bonds creating molecules of water, and one protein amino acid strand. It can also be used to assess students understanding of the process of translation.

Since caffeine is a widely used substance, especially by college age students, this case on the effects of caffeine on the human body serves as a real-world connection to many students' lives. The case is divided into sections covering background information on caffeine, cell biology and signal transduction, Parkinson's disease, cardiovascular effects, and addiction/withdrawal. The case was designed so that a section can be used alone or in combination with other sections, as dictated by topic/curriculum needs. It would be appropriate for use in a variety of science and health related courses, including anatomy and physiology, disease related courses, genetics, cell biology, molecular biology, biochemistry, and neuroscience.

Case It! is an NSF-sponsored project to promote collaborative case-based learning in biology education worldwide. This paper describes the latest version of the Case It! simulation software (DNA gel electrophoresis, Southern blotting, and PCR). Students use these open-ended molecular biology computer simulations to analyze case studies involving genetic diseases, then discuss results with their peers at other institutions via web-based "poster sessions." They also use Case It! software to gather background information, analyze DNA and protein sequences, then create web-page posters and discuss them via a web editor /conferencing system at the Case It! web site (http://www.uwrf.edu/caseit/caseit.html).

For introducing a framework for collaborative case-based learning in molecular biology using interactive computer simulations and web-based "poster sessions" for students via Internet conferencing.

This case is based on a lurid crime featured on the BBC program Crimewatch in December 2001 that was solved thanks to forensic DNA analysis. Students learn how the structure of DNA and the mechanism used by cells to duplicate DNA were critical to the forensic analysis. They then determine the statistical validity of the forensic data in the same way a prosecutor would prepare the case for a courtroom. Written for an introductory biology course of 300+ students, the teaching notes for the case describe how students work in permanent small groups in a lecture hall setting to collaboratively solve the case in class.

This "clicker case" is a modified version of another case in our collection by the same name. It uses a PowerPoint presentation (~3MB) to present the case, which is punctuated by multiple-choice questions that students answer in class using hand-held personal response systems ("clickers"). The story revolves around a murder committed in Wales that was solved through DNA analysis. Students learn about DNA structure and replication, and how scientists have adapted this process for use in experimentation and forensic analysis, including PCR analysis and DNA fingerprinting. The students then use this knowledge to identify possible suspects in the crime. The case is designed for use in an introductory biology course either for science majors or non-majors. It could be modified for use in upper level classes as well.

To illustrate cell fractionation, nuclei are isolated from the ciliated protozoan, Tetrahymena thermophila. A table top clinical centrifuge is used for the fractionation steps and the procedure is monitored microscopically using a differential stain. To determine the efficiency of the procedure, cell and nuclear counts are determined with a hemacytometer. To quantify DNA, the Diphenylamine Reaction is carried out and the amount of DNA per nucleus is calculated.

This resource is designed to illustrate the physical and chemical properties of amino acids that determine the shapes and biological activities of proteins.