Association for Biology Laboratory Education

Using a Comparative Endocrinology Model to Recruit Future Scientists
 

Mary Beth Hawkins & Miriam Ferzli

Tested Studies in Laboratory Teaching, 2014, Volume 35

Abstract

Students in an undergraduate research program, Research PackTrack (RP), investigate the structural and functional evolution of the three estrogen receptors (ERs) found in Micropogonias undulatus. This neuroendocrine model introduces students to a comparative, evolutionary approach that offers hands–on experience in a working research laboratory. Students use a robust experimental protocol, in vitro bacterial expression of the ER and subsequent competitive binding assays, to test their novel hypotheses about the effects of site-directed gene mutations on ER-ligand interactions. This course allows for hypothesis-driven authentic research projects that are loosely based on the laboratory model rather than standardized laboratory exercises.

Keywords:  endocrinology, undergraduate research, estrogen receptors

University of Calgary (2013)