The college is developing a course in molecular biology to provide women students with a modern, rigorous, and integrated biology curriculum. Laboratories are designed to develop critical thinking and data analysis skills which directly involve students in state-of-the- art molecular methods. The department is purchasing an ultracentrifuge, high speed centrifuge and rotors, microfuges, DNA sequencing equipment, gel blotting units, slab gel dryer, and hybridization apparatus. This makes possible the isolation and characterization of macromolecules, cloning and sequencing of DNA fragments, and nucleic acid and protein blotting. These techniques are being incorporated into project- oriented laboratories in the new Molecular Biology course. Fundamental knowledge and skills on protein and nucleic acid analysis which students have acquired in their core courses are being applied and enhanced through molecular biology projects which emphasize isolation and characterization of functional domains of DNA and proteins. The college is contributing 104% of the award for this project.
