DNA Barcoding Investigations Bring Biology to Life

When Sophia Cuprillnilson walked into her undergraduate genetics class in the fall of 2008, little did she realize that her perception of biology would be transformed forever. "I thought I was going to be learning about Mendel and peas," she said. Instead, Cuprillnilson and her classmates became DNA detectives, sent out in pairs to collect samples of fish from local restaurants. Back in the lab at Nova Southeastern University's Farquhar College of Arts and Sciences in Florida, they extracted DNA, created primers, and analyzed the sequences to determine whether consumers were really getting the species described on the menu. Their professor was Mahmood Shivji, who is also director of the Guy Harvey Research Institute at the university's Oceanographic Center, in Dania Beach, Florida. In early 2007, he led an investigation into fish labeling at restaurants and found significant substitutions. He decided to continue the investigation with his genetics class that fall. "It was much more exciting than using the typical genetics lab teaching organisms, Drosophila, or onions," Shivji said. "The students didn't know the outcome of the investigation, and the instructors didn't know it either, which is very atypical for an undergraduate lab." He didn't have to change his syllabus very much to incorporate the real-world investigation because it already included the protocols for DNA extraction and creating primers for DNA amplification. "I was very pleased to see that the students real...
Source: Eye on Education - Category: Biology Authors: Source Type: news