An Imaging Facility to Enhance Study of Cell and Molecular Biology

Middlebury College, Middlebury VT

Investigators

Abstract

Biological Sciences (61) Recent growth in genomic research and microbiology at Middlebury College has generated interest in the genomic modification of eukaryotic cells and in the visual examination of the phenotypic effects of such modification. Students now use green fluorescent protein (GFP) to "naturally" tag wild- type and mutant E2F transcription factors, follow their localization and monitor their function in cultured mammalian cells, in an extended laboratory project newly adapted and implemented as a paradigm for the genomic modification of eukaryotic cells. They examine these genomically modified cells using inverted microscopes equipped for fluorescence and differential interference contrast optics in a newly constructed Imaging Facility. They also use a cryostat and this facility, including upright microscopes with fluorescence and DIC optics, for advanced study and course research projects in endocrinology, immunology, and developmental biology as well as cell biology. Additionally, provision of these microscopes with digital capturing, display and storage capabilities allows students to work at each work station in small groups and encourages their active collaboration in data collection and analysis. Procedures implemented in this project are adapted from various sources, including the scientific literature (e. g., Magae et al., 1999; Kavaler et al., 1999; Parfitt and Newman, 1998) and monographs and technical manuals (e. g., Conn, 1999; Lefkovits, 1996). The results of this project are evaluated primarily through the analysis of portfolios of student reports prepared before and after they used the Imaging Facility, fluorescence and DIC microscopes, and cryostat and by tracking student outcomes during matriculation and following graduation.