Goal of Course:
To introduce teachers to the theory and practice of modern molecular biotechnology and bioinformatics,  particularly
as it relates to human health and welfare;  to offer teachers the skills to develop exercises that could be used in the classroom,
particularly exercises that make use of the vast array of online resources.

Types of Activities: 

The course will be comprised of three types of activities:
 
• lecture topics that deal with current topics including basic molecular genetics, the human genome project, and implications and
ramifications of biotechnology and bioinformatics
• online exercises that introduce teachers to biotechnology resources such as NCBI, Biology Workbench, the HHMI site, and the
Cold Spring Harbor site
• laboratory exercises that will illustrate basic concepts in molecular biotechnology.  Each teacher will amplify their own
mitochondrial DNA, sequence the resulting DNA fragment and analyze the sequence
 
 Week 1: 
 
 Lecture Topic:
• Overview of basic molecular genetics (Chapter 1, Campbell text)
 Online Computer Exercise:
• Summary of online resources related to molecular biology and biotechnology
• Detailed tour of  National Center for Biotechnology Information Online NCBI Resources

 Wet Lab Exercise:
• Extraction of DNA (from various foods)
• Run DNA on gel to visualize
 
 Week 2:
 
 Lecture Topics:
• Overview of the Human (and Other) Genome Projects: (Chapters 2 & 3, Campbell)
 Online Computer  Exercises:
• Introduction to “Biology Workbench”  –  logging in and completing the sickle cell anemia tutorial

 Laboratory Topics:
• Isolation of your DNA from buccal cells
• Setting up the Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) to amplify mitochondrial DNA
 
 Week 3:
 
 Lecture Topics:
• Overview of Genome Expression (Chapters 4-6, Campbell)
 Computer Exercises:
• Exercises from Campbell disk

 Laboratory Topics:
• Run out PCR product on gel to determine if the reaction was successful
• Set up DNA sequencing reaction
 
 Week 4:
 
 Lecture Topics:
• Broader Applications of Genomics    (Chapters 10-12, Campbell)
 Online and Laboratory Exercises:
• Analysis of your mitochondrial DNA using online tools.   Here we will use NCBI tools and the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
site to analyze  your DNA and compare it with other mitochondrial DNA sequences.