Introduction to Biotechnology I: Exercise Workbook & Lab Guide

This workbook, provided by Austin Community College, prepares students for a job working in a biotechnology lab. An overview of biotechnology is provided along with general lab safety and preparation, and a variety of biotechnology laboratory practical experiences. Topics covered include: essential tools in the biotechnology laboratory, preparing solutions, DNA barcoding, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay, recombinant DNA technology, and more

Broadening Participation in Biology Education Research: Engaging Community College Students and Faculty

Nearly half of all undergraduates are enrolled at community colleges (CCs), including the majority of U.S. students who represent groups underserved in the sciences. Yet only a small minority of studies published in discipline-based education research journals address CC biology students, faculty, courses, or authors. This marked underrepresentation of CC biology education research (BER) limits the availability of evidence that could be used to increase CC student success in biology programs. To address this issue, a diverse group of stakeholders convened at the Building Capacity for Biology Education Research at Community Colleges meeting to discuss how to increase the prevalence of CC BER and foster participation of CC faculty as BER collaborators and authors. The group identified characteristics of CCs that make them excellent environments for studying biology teaching and learning, including student diversity and institutional cultures that prioritize teaching, learning, and assessment. The group also identified constraints likely to impede BER at CCs: limited time, resources, support, and incentives, as well as misalignment between doing research and CC faculty identities as teachers. The meeting culminated with proposing strategies for faculty, administrators, journal editors, scientific societies, and funding agencies to better support CC BER

Webinar 9: Teaching Biotech from a Distance - DNA Barcoding in a Regulated Environment

This video is part of the Spring 2020 Teaching Biotech from a Distance webinar series provided by InnovATEBio National Biotechnology Education Center. In this presentation, Dr. Linnea Fletcher, InnovATEBio PI, discusses DNA barcoding and how to adapt biotechnology coursework to teach best practices and procedures for biotechnology students. Dr. Fletcher outlines how to identify standard skills and procedures in the biotechnology industry, and how to incorporate these elements into classwork so that students have an opportunity to adhere to Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) and current Good Manufacturing Practices (cGMP). In the biotechnology field, these standards encompass people, products, procedures, premises and equipment, and processes. The second part of the webinar presentation demonstrates how students can learn good documentation practices through independent research projects using DNA barcoding. This webinar runs 1:43:58 in length. Additional webinars in the series are available to view separately

Develop an Articulation Agreement

Articulation agreements are arrangements between two year colleges and Universities or high schools and two year colleges that describe how credits will transfer between institutions. This guide presents examples of these agreements and describes how to create them. The guide may be downloaded in PDF file format

Exploring DNA Structure with Cn3D

Researchers in the field of bioinformatics have developed a number of analytical programs and databases that are increasingly important for advancing biological research. Because bioinformatics programs are used to analyze, visualize, and/or compare biological data, it is likely that the use of these programs will have a positive impact on biology education. Over the past years, we have been working to help biology instructors introduce bioinformatics activities into their curricula by providing them with instructional materials that use bioinformatics programs and databases as educational tools. In this study, we measured the impact of a set of these materials on student learning. The activities in these materials asked students to use the molecular structure visualization program Cn3D to locate, identify, or analyze diverse features in DNA structures. Both the experimental groups of college and high school students showed significant increases in learning relative to control groups. Further, learning gains by the college students were correlated with the number of activities assigned. We conclude that working with Cn3D was important for improving student understanding of DNA structure. This study is one example of how a bioinformatics program for visualization can be used to support student learning

A Genomics Education Alliance

<p>Genomics has emerged as a critical area of research for the life sciences, generating new social and scientific perspectives. Low-cost sequencing and advances in computing have accelerated genomics research at a pace that leaves educators at the undergraduate level struggling to keep up. We present a call to action, advocating for creation of a Genomics Education Alliance (GEA) – a global, sustainable, community-driven organization that can coalesce disparate efforts to deliver on the educational and scientific promise of genomics in the 21^st century. Addressing the emerging challenges in human health, agriculture, and climate will depend on training the next generation of biology students to be data-savvy scientists. Genome annotation and analysis, as a stand-alone effort or in conjunction with wet-bench investigation, has proven to be an effective way to a) introduce large numbers of biology students to bioinformatics, and b) provide students with a course-based research experiences (CUREs). GEA can implement and maintain an up-to-date framework, including accessible tools and research problems, to support undergraduate education, promoting CURE-based approaches and addressing barriers (e.g. technological, training, pedagogical) that educators face in bringing genomics to undergraduates at scale. We invite the community of researchers and educators working in genomics and related fields to join us in shaping this alliance with the aim of achieving transformative change in life science education. </p

A Comprehensive Analysis of Replicative Lifespan in 4,698 Single-Gene Deletion Strains Uncovers Conserved Mechanisms of Aging

Many genes that affect replicative lifespan (RLS) in the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae also affect aging in other organisms such as C.&nbsp;elegans and M.&nbsp;musculus. We performed a systematic analysis of yeast RLS in a set of 4,698 viable single-gene deletion strains. Multiple functional gene clusters were identified, and full genome-to-genome comparison demonstrated a significant conservation in longevity pathways between yeast and C.&nbsp;elegans. Among the mechanisms of aging identified, deletion of tRNA exporter LOS1 robustly extended lifespan. Dietary restriction (DR) and inhibition of mechanistic Target of Rapamycin (mTOR) exclude Los1 from the nucleus in a Rad53-dependent manner. Moreover, lifespan extension from deletion of LOS1 is nonadditive with DR or mTOR inhibition, and results in Gcn4 transcription factor activation. Thus, the DNA damage response and mTOR converge on Los1-mediated nuclear tRNA export to regulate Gcn4 activity and aging

Braincharts for the human lifespan

Over the past 25 years, neuroimaging has become a ubiquitous tool in basic research and clinical studies of the human brain. However, there are no reference standards against which to anchor measures of individual differences in brain morphology, in contrast to growth charts for traits such as height and weight. Here, we built an interactive online resource (www.brainchart.io) to quantify individual differences in brain structure from any current or future magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) study, against models of expected age-related trends. With the goal of basing these on the largest and most inclusive dataset, we aggregated MRI data spanning 115 days post-conception through 100 postnatal years, totaling 122,123 scans from 100,071 individuals in over 100 studies across 6 continents. When quantified as centile scores relative to the reference models, individual differences show high validity with non-MRI brain growth estimates and high stability across longitudinal assessment. Centile scores helped identify previously unreported brain developmental milestones and demonstrated increased genetic heritability compared to non-centiled MRI phenotypes. Crucially for the study of brain disorders, centile scores provide a standardised and interpretable measure of deviation that reveals new patterns of neuroanatomical differences across neurological and psychiatric disorders emerging during development and ageing. In sum, brain charts for the human lifespan are an essential first step towards robust, standardised quantification of individual variation and for characterizing deviation from age-related trends. Our global collaborative study