This course provides instruction in the theory and application of a variety of research techniques dealing with the structure and function of proteins in biological systems. Students will gain practical laboratory experience in procedures including chromatographic separation of proteins, spectrophotometric protein assays, kinetic characterization of enzymes, polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis, antibody production, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA), immunoblotting, cell culture, and fluorescence microscopy. Additional experience will be gained in the practical application of computer-based bioinformatics tools for characterizing proteins based on their predicted amino acid sequences, as well as in protein identification through mass-spectrometry.
This course can count as laboratory credit to accompany Biology 307 or Chemistry 315 or both. One hour of lecture and three hours of laboratory per week plus independent work.