Instrumentation for the Training of Students in Scientific Research Using Drosophila

9452482 Pai Instrumentation for the enhancement of research training of students allows the department to incorporate semester-long research projects in courses for both undergraduate majors and non-majors. Students explore different aspects of original research approaching a problem from many directions. Drosophila melanogaster is the experimental model of choice for both scientific and practical reasons. The new equipment includes incubators to provide controlled environments; microscopes and a micromanipulation system with video capabilities to analyze embryos and teach up-to-date techniques. Projects are carried out in a variety of upper division courses: a contrast of natural selection and artificial selection in a non-major course in the context of evolution; crosses to induce the excision of plasmids from transformed flies in Genetics; in situ hybridization experiments for Experimental Molecular Biology (EMB); microinjection of protoplasts and embryos in EMB and Embryology. Experiments and analyses based on these projects serve as projects for Honors and Independent Research Projects. ***