9322164 Gegenheimer This award provides funds to the Department of Biochemistry at The University of Kansas to support a Summer Research Experience for Undergraduates in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, a program for 10 weeks in the summer of 1994. Recognizing the pivotal role of independent laboratory research in students' decisions to make a commitment to research careers in the biological sciences, this opportunity will be provided to students from colleges with limited research opportunities, and to members of groups traditionally underrepresented in the fields of biochemistry and molecular biology. The program focuses on several overlapping areas of biochemistry and molecular biology, principally protein structure and function, enzyme mechanisms, and protein engineering; proteins involved in cytoskeletal structure; the structure, function, and regulation of membrane proteins--receptors, ion channels and ion transporters--and of their genes; and molecular developmental biology. To maximize the unique opportunities offered at The University of Kansas, students will be involved in several collaborative projects combining classical protein structure analysis, genetic engineering and physical biochemical approaches. Early hands-on experience with these powerful techniques in a carefully controlled environment awakens students' excitement. This experience will provide the students with an inside view of these areas of biochemistry and molecular biology that may previously have seemed inaccessible to them. ***
