Who Scared the Cat? A Molecular Crime Scene Investigation Laboratory Exercise

This introductory laboratory exercise gives first-year life science majors or nonmajors an opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in basic bioinformatics and molecular biology laboratory techniques and analysis in the context of a mock crime scene investigation. In this laboratory, students de...

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Autores principales:	Laura E. Ott, Susan D. Carson
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	EN
Publicado:	American Society for Microbiology 2016
Materias:	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/1af1c1c2d985493aa13b1b65020c5c8b
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:1af1c1c2d985493aa13b1b65020c5c8b2021-11-15T15:13:57ZWho Scared the Cat? A Molecular Crime Scene Investigation Laboratory Exercise10.1128/jmbe.v17i3.11221935-78851935-7877https://doaj.org/article/1af1c1c2d985493aa13b1b65020c5c8b2016-12-01T00:00:00Zhttps://journals.asm.org/doi/10.1128/jmbe.v17i3.1122https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7877https://doaj.org/toc/1935-7885This introductory laboratory exercise gives first-year life science majors or nonmajors an opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in basic bioinformatics and molecular biology laboratory techniques and analysis in the context of a mock crime scene investigation. In this laboratory, students determine if a human (Lady) or dog (Kona) committed the fictional crime of scaring a cat. Students begin by performing in silico PCR using provided dog- and human-specific PCR primers to determine the sequences to be amplified and predict PCR amplicon sizes. They then BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) the in silico PCR results to confirm that the PCR primers are designed to amplify genomic fragments of the cardiac actin gene in both dogs and humans. Finally, they use DNA quantification techniques, PCR, and agarose gel electrophoresis to identify the culprit and they confirm results by analyzing Sanger sequencing. Student learning gains were demonstrated by successful execution of the lab and by analysis and interpretation of data in the completion of laboratory reports. The student learning gains were also demonstrated by increased performance on a post-laboratory assessment compared to the pre-assessment. A post-activity assessment also revealed that students perceived gains in the skills and conceptual knowledge associated with the student learning outcomes. Finally, assessment of this introductory molecular biology and bio-informatics activity reveals that it allows first-year students to develop higher-order data analysis and interpretation skills.Laura E. OttSusan D. CarsonAmerican Society for MicrobiologyarticleSpecial aspects of educationLC8-6691Biology (General)QH301-705.5ENJournal of Microbiology & Biology Education, Vol 17, Iss 3, Pp 451-457 (2016)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	EN
topic	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5
spellingShingle	Special aspects of education LC8-6691 Biology (General) QH301-705.5 Laura E. Ott Susan D. Carson Who Scared the Cat? A Molecular Crime Scene Investigation Laboratory Exercise
description	This introductory laboratory exercise gives first-year life science majors or nonmajors an opportunity to gain knowledge and experience in basic bioinformatics and molecular biology laboratory techniques and analysis in the context of a mock crime scene investigation. In this laboratory, students determine if a human (Lady) or dog (Kona) committed the fictional crime of scaring a cat. Students begin by performing in silico PCR using provided dog- and human-specific PCR primers to determine the sequences to be amplified and predict PCR amplicon sizes. They then BLAST (Basic Local Alignment Search Tool) the in silico PCR results to confirm that the PCR primers are designed to amplify genomic fragments of the cardiac actin gene in both dogs and humans. Finally, they use DNA quantification techniques, PCR, and agarose gel electrophoresis to identify the culprit and they confirm results by analyzing Sanger sequencing. Student learning gains were demonstrated by successful execution of the lab and by analysis and interpretation of data in the completion of laboratory reports. The student learning gains were also demonstrated by increased performance on a post-laboratory assessment compared to the pre-assessment. A post-activity assessment also revealed that students perceived gains in the skills and conceptual knowledge associated with the student learning outcomes. Finally, assessment of this introductory molecular biology and bio-informatics activity reveals that it allows first-year students to develop higher-order data analysis and interpretation skills.
format	article
author	Laura E. Ott Susan D. Carson
author_facet	Laura E. Ott Susan D. Carson
author_sort	Laura E. Ott
title	Who Scared the Cat? A Molecular Crime Scene Investigation Laboratory Exercise
title_short	Who Scared the Cat? A Molecular Crime Scene Investigation Laboratory Exercise
title_full	Who Scared the Cat? A Molecular Crime Scene Investigation Laboratory Exercise
title_fullStr	Who Scared the Cat? A Molecular Crime Scene Investigation Laboratory Exercise
title_full_unstemmed	Who Scared the Cat? A Molecular Crime Scene Investigation Laboratory Exercise
title_sort	who scared the cat? a molecular crime scene investigation laboratory exercise
publisher	American Society for Microbiology
publishDate	2016
url	https://doaj.org/article/1af1c1c2d985493aa13b1b65020c5c8b
work_keys_str_mv	AT lauraeott whoscaredthecatamolecularcrimesceneinvestigationlaboratoryexercise AT susandcarson whoscaredthecatamolecularcrimesceneinvestigationlaboratoryexercise
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Who Scared the Cat? A Molecular Crime Scene Investigation Laboratory Exercise

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