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    Exploring the Lytic and Lysogenic Life Cycles of Bacteriophages
    The goal of this lesson is to introduce students to the lytic and lysogenic cycles of T4 and lambda bacteriophages, respectively, using student-centered pedagogies. Bacteriophages are viruses that infect bacteria and are either virulent or...

    Courses: MicrobiologyMicrobiology

    Lesson
    1236

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    167

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    Mock Drug Activity Enhances Student Learning About the Challenges of HIV/AIDS Therapy
    While traditional didactic coursework is important for learning about the scientific aspects of HIV/AIDS, it is difficult to convey social aspects of the epidemic. Due to effective drug therapies, an HIV diagnosis is now considered a chronic...

    Courses: MicrobiologyMicrobiology

    Lesson
    3139

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    502

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    Targeting Misconceptions in the Central Dogma by Examining Viral Infection
    Understanding the central dogma and how changes in gene expression can impact cell function requires integration of several topics in molecular biology. Students often do not make the necessary connections between DNA structure, transcription,...
    Lesson
    2360

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    287

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    You and Your Oral Microflora: Introducing non-biology majors to their “forgotten organ”
    With limited time available for laboratory activities, introductory science courses for non-science majors typically use the laboratory period to reinforce material that was previously presented during lecture. This practice was true of a human...
    Lesson
    2129

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    665

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    Sequence Similarity: An inquiry based and "under the hood" approach for incorporating molecular sequence alignment in introductory undergraduate biology courses
    Introductory bioinformatics exercises often walk students through the use of computational tools, but often provide little understanding of what a computational tool does "under the hood." A solid understanding of how a bioinformatics...
    Lesson
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    1206

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    Teaching the Central Dogma Using a Case Study of Genetic Variation in Cystic Fibrosis
    The central dogma of biology is a foundational concept that is traditionally included in genetics curricula at all academic levels. Despite its ubiquitous presence throughout genetics education, students persistently struggle with both the...

    Courses: GeneticsGenetics

    Lesson
    3156

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    458

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    Small Organisms with Big Consequences: Understanding the Microbial World Around Us
    Creating a hands-on lab that conveys important information while simultaneously allowing for student autonomy can be difficult. This is particularly true for the field of microbiology, in which labs often rely on “recipe-style”...
    Lesson
    6250

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    554

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    2

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    Meiosis Remodeled: Inclusion of New Parts to Poppit Bead Models Enhances Understanding of Meiosis
    A long-standing tradition uses strings of poppit beads of different colors to model meiosis, especially to show how segments of paired homologous chromosomes are recombined. Our use of orthodontic latex bands to model cohesion of sister...
    Lesson
    2270

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    455

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    A Short Laboratory Module to Help Infuse Metacognition during an Introductory Course-based Research Experience
    A core competency identified in Vision and Change for undergraduate biology students is the Ability to Apply the Process of Science. Here, we describe a three-week laboratory module for students in an Introductory Cell and Molecular Biology...
    Lesson
    1882

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    637

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    A Close-Up Look at PCR
    The Polymerase Chain Reaction (PCR) is a fundamental laboratory technique that allows for the amplification of many copies of a desired DNA target sequence. Despite its prevalence, undergraduate students often have poor comprehension about the...
    Lesson
    1482

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    158

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    Infectious Chocolate Joy with a Side of Poissonian Statistics: An activity connecting life science students with subtle physics concepts
    Introductory physics courses are required for many programs in the life sciences, yet traditional curricula fail to help students meaningfully connect physical concepts with biological systems.  In this lesson, we describe an activity taught...
    Lesson
    3776

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    415

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    Using Open-Source Bioinformatics and Visualization Tools to Explore the Structure and Function of SARS-CoV-2 Spike Protein
    The relationship between protein structure and function is a foundational concept in undergraduate biochemistry. We find this theme is best presented with assignments that encourage exploration and analysis. Here, we share a series of four...
    Lesson
    2195

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    459

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    Antibiotic Resistance Genes Detection in Environmental Samples
    Our aim is to provide an authentic research experience for undergraduate students in a variety of biology courses through collaboration between a four-year university and a community college. This lab series teaches transferable and universal...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    132

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    Biology from Molecules to Embryos, Interactive Animated Lessons
    Visualizing kinetic processes can be an impediment to student mastery of basic science coursework. To remedy this obstacle, I created an educational program called Biology from Molecules to Embryos© (BioME), which provides 28 animated lessons...
    Essay
    1476

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    205

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    The Impact of Diet and Antibiotics on the Gut Microbiome: Distance Education Variant
    The goal of this article is to describe a variation of an active learning exercise that was previously published by the same author under a similar title. The variation describes modifications instructors can use to make the exercise suitable for...
    Teaching Tools and Strategies
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    211

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    An Interactive Protocol for In-Classroom DNA Extraction
    Using commonly available materials, this tool allows students to extract DNA, exploring DNA chemistry and the principles of experimental design and execution. We take a “Choose Your Own Adventure” approach encouraging students to...
    Lesson
    3469

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    722

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    Homologous chromosomes? Exploring human sex chromosomes, sex determination and sex reversal using bioinformatics approaches
    Constructing a robust understanding of homologous chromosomes, sex chromosomes, and the particulate nature of genes is a notoriously difficult task for undergraduate biology students. In this lesson, students expand their knowledge of human...
    Lesson
    3342

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    275

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    Application of a Bacterial Experimental Evolution System to Visualize and Teach Evolution in Action: A Course-Based Undergraduate Research Experience
    Concepts of evolution are typically taught through examples of extremely long timescales, which do not always resonate broadly. Here, we describe a course-based undergraduate research experience tailored for junior and senior undergraduate biology...
    Lesson
    2115

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    396

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    Integrating Manipulatives and Animations to Visualize Holliday Junctions
    The complex molecular architecture of Holliday junctions is often challenging for undergraduate biochemistry students to conceptualize. In particular, they have difficulty translating from two-dimensional, linear representations shown in textbooks...
    Lesson
    5649

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    1168

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    Meiosis: A Play in Three Acts, Starring DNA Sequence
    Meiosis is well known for being a sticky topic that appears repeatedly in biology curricula. We observe that a typical undergraduate biology major cannot correctly identify haploid and diploid cells or explain how and why chromosomes pair before...