9351293 Edwards A long-term goal of Texas Southern University's Department of Biology is to develop and maintain a modern and well equipped molecular biology teaching laboratory that provides state-of- the-art training opportunities for undergraduate students who intend to pursue careers in health science fields, including teaching, research, and medicine. This application requests funds to purchase micro and high-speed centrifuges, equipment for organelle isolation and genome analysis for teaching a laboratory course in "Experimentation in Recombinant DNA Technology, Genome Analysis, and Cell Mapping" to supplement and clarify the theory taught in Cell and Molecular Biology courses. The laboratory experience is mandatory in preparing minority students for graduate and professional schools, and for careers in college and precollege teaching. The new equipment will allow students to develop experience in the preparation of plasmids and plasmid DNA, fractionation of subcellular organelles and preparation of genomic and Lambda DNA; to amplify DNA molecules for sequencing and cloning in plasmid vectors, and produce libraries of genomic DNA; to isolate Restriction Enzyme digests, separate DNA fragments, isolate chromosome-size DNA molecules, sequence cloned DNA fragments and DNA isolated directly from agarose gels. Not only is this equipment essential for teaching the proposed laboratory course, it will also provide a facility for training other undergraduate students in state-of-the-art methods in biochemical and molecular biology procedures. ***
