Science Education Abstracts

Science. 2011 Jan 14;331(6014):152-3

Anderson, WA, CL Drennan, U Banerjee, SCR Elgin, IR Epstein, J Handelsman, GF Hatfull, R Losick, DK O’Dowd, BM Olivera, SA Strobel, GC Walker, IM Warner

Howard University, Washington, DC 20059, USA.

Professors have two primary charges: generate new knowledge and educate students. The reward systems at research universities heavily weight efforts of many professors toward research at the expense of teaching, particularly in disciplines supported extensively by extramural funding (1). Although education and lifelong learning skills are of utmost importance in our rapidly changing, technologically dependent world (2), teaching responsibilities in many STEM (science, technology, engineering, and math) disciplines have long had the derogatory label “teaching load” (3, 4). Some institutions even award professors “teaching release” as an acknowledgment of their research accomplishments and success at raising outside research funds.

  PLoS One. 2011 Jan 27;6(1):e16329

Pope, WH, ….Elgin, SCR, …Hatfull, GF

Department of Biological Sciences, University of Pittsburgh, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, United States of America.

Mycobacteriophages are viruses that infect mycobacterial hosts such as Mycobacterium smegmatis and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. All mycobacteriophages characterized to date are dsDNA tailed phages, and have either siphoviral or myoviral morphotypes. However, their genetic diversity is considerable, and although sixty-two genomes have been sequenced and comparatively analyzed, these likely represent only a small portion of the diversity of the mycobacteriophage population at large. Here we report the isolation, sequencing and comparative genomic analysis of 18 new mycobacteriophages isolated from geographically distinct locations within the United States. Although no clear correlation between location and genome type can be discerned, these genomes expand our knowledge of mycobacteriophage diversity and enhance our understanding of the roles of mobile elements in viral evolution. Expansion of the number of mycobacteriophages grouped within Cluster A provides insights into the basis of immune specificity in these temperate phages, and we also describe a novel example of apparent immunity theft. The isolation and genomic analysis of bacteriophages by freshman college students provides an example of an authentic research experience for novice scientists.

CBE Life Sci Educ. 2010 Spring;9(1):55-69

Shaffer, C, C Alvarez, C Bailey, D Barnard, S Bhalla, C Chandrasekaran, V Chandrasekaran, HM Chung, D Dorer, C Du, T Eckdahl, J Poet, D Frohlich, A Goodman, Y Gosser, C Hauser, L Hoopes, D Johnson, C Jones, M Kaehler, N Kokan, O Kopp, G Kuleck, G McNeil, R Moss, J Myka, A Nagengast, R Morris, P Overvoorde, E Shoop, S Parrish, K Reed, E Regisford, D Revie, A Rosenwald, K Saville, S Schroeder, M Shaw, C Smith, G Skuse, M Smith, E Spana, M Spratt, J Stamm, J Thompson, M Wawersik, B Wilson, J Youngblom, W Leung, J Buhler, E Mardis, D Lopatto, SCR Elgin
Department of Biology, Washington University in St Louis, St Louis, Missouri, USA.

Genomics is not only essential for students to understand biology but also provides unprecedented opportunities for undergraduate research. The goal of the Genomics Education Partnership (GEP), a collaboration between a growing number of colleges and universities around the country and the Department of Biology and Genome Center of Washington University in St. Louis, is to provide such research opportunities. Using a versatile curriculum that has been adapted to many different class settings, GEP undergraduates undertake projects to bring draft-quality genomic sequence up to high quality and/or participate in the annotation of these sequences. GEP undergraduates have improved more than 2 million bases of draft genomic sequence from several species of Drosophila and have produced hundreds of gene models using evidence-based manual annotation. Students appreciate their ability to make a contribution to ongoing research, and report increased independence and a more active learning approach after participation in GEP projects. They show knowledge gains on pre- and postcourse quizzes about genes and genomes and in bioinformatic analysis. Participating faculty also report professional gains, increased access to genomics-related technology, and an overall positive experience. We have found that using a genomics research project as the core of a laboratory course is rewarding for both faculty and students.

Science. 2008 Oct 31;322(5902):684-5

Lopatto, D, C Alvarez, D Barnard, C Chandrasekaran, H-M Chung, C Du, T Eckdahl, AL Goodman, C Hauser, CJ Jones, OR Kopp, GA Kuleck, G McNeil, R Morris, JL Myka, A Nagengast, PJ Overvoorde, JL Poet, K Reed, G Regisford, D Revie, A Rosenwald, K Saville, M Shaw, GR Skuse, C Smith, M Smith, M Spratt, J Stamm, JS Thompson, BA Wilson, C Witkowski, J Youngblom, W Leung, CD Shaffer, J Buhler, E Mardis, SCR Elgin

Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, USA

Cell Biol Educ. 2005 Winter;4(4):291-7

Genome science: a video tour of the Washington University Genome Sequencing Center for high school and undergraduate students.

Flowers, S.K., Easter, C., Holmes, A., Cohen, B., Bednarski, A., Mardis, E.R., Wilson, R.K., and Elgin, S.C.R.

Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA

Cell Biol Educ. 2005 Fall;4(3):207-20

An inquiry into protein structure and genetic disease: introducing undergraduates to bioinformatics in a large introductory course.

Bednarksi, A.E., Elgin, S.C.R., and Pakrasi, H.B.

Department of Biology, Washington University, St. Louis, MO 63130, USA

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