The Department of Biological Sciences recently has implemented a curriculum revision involving the creation of three core courses for all majors - namely - Genetics, Ecology and Cell Biology. Of these, Cell Biology had not existed on this campus in the past and Genetics had been in need of revision. Instruments procured through this project are being used to provide current technology to the laboratory portions of both of these core courses. Included among the new instruments are teaching and instructor's microscopes equipped with phase-contrast optics that provide for more effective observation of living cells, and an ultracentriguge. The instruments are enhancing both laboratory teaching and student research projects by making the modern techniques of Light Microscopy and of Molecular Genetics (especially methods of isolating cellular components) available to undergraduates.
