BASIC LABORATORY SKILLS:WHAT OUR STUDENTS NEED TO SUCCEEDBio-Link Summer Fellows, 2010

Jeanette Mowery and Lisa SeidmanMadison Area Technical Collegeand Bio-Link

IN THE BEGINNING

Herb BoyerRobert SwansonBIOTECHNOLOGY CREATION MYTH

1976Venture capitalist Robert Swanson met with biochemist Herbert Boyer. Genentech was born out of that union.

VISIONUse methods developed by molecular biologists Boyer, Cohen, Chang and others to take a gene from one organism and put into a cell (e.g. bacterial cell)Transformed cells would then manufacture a protein productThat product would be of commercial valueBIOMANUFACTURING

AND SO IT CAME TO PASSWorkedGenentechs insulin made by transformed bacteria was approved in 1982

Be fruitful and multiply

bioinformatics

CREATION MYTHNot entirely trueBut there is a deeper truth to itBiotechnology is union of biology and technology, must have both together

cGMPVenture capitalMarket..nINDFDACDERNDAANGIOGENESISQpcrBlast searCHMICROSOMALRNaMolecular BIOLOGDIFFERENTIATIONBottom LINETWO CULTURES

Biotechnology is rooted in academia The academic culture does not value teaching students basic lab skillsHow do we know?Why is this?

SOME REASONSBasics are boringStudents learn basics somewhere elseStudents learn basics by osmosisStudents will be bored and leave our courses if we make them do thisWe dont have timeWe can teach basics while the students do qPCR

When you are balanced on the cutting edge, pushing the frontiers of science, you need a firm foundation.

This was where we were yesterday morning in our plans for workshopBut then we listened to Vision and Change workshopIf students dont know the fundamentals of lab work, they just produce bad research

More to itPondered the nature of scientific processIn the monastery retreat

WHAT IS THE HEART OF THE SCIENTIFIC PROCESS??

CONTROL

cGMPVenture capitalMarket..nINDFDACDERNDAANGIOGENESISQpcrBlast searCHMICROSOMALRNaMolecular BIOLOGDIFFERENTIATIONBottom LINETWO CULTURES

If we could only teach our students one thing, what would it be?ControlIdentify what are the first things, the most basic things that must be controlled for a biologist?

One Key ThingLiquid environments for our systems (solutions, media, buffers)WeighingVolumepHAseptic technique

TEACHINGUnderneath these techniques there are fundamental principles, like accuracy and precisionSo, using a micropipette correctly is only the simplest and most superficial part of the lessonAccuracy and precision are about control

FundamentalsMust be taught explicitlyConsciouslySystematicShow students their valueHow?

TIME

Now, lets discuss our blocks recognizing that it is the deeper lessons we are interested in

QuestionsHow much does a quarter weigh in M&M units?How certain are you of your answer?What does it mean to weigh something?How much agreement is there in class results?How can we maximize the accuracy of our balances?How can we maximize the precision of our balances?

Final QuestionIf you agree that the fundamentals must be taught systematically and explicitlyHow do we make this a part of Vision and Change?