Home

General Information

• This laboratory course advances basic laboratory, record keeping, and technical communication skills that were introduced in Bios 211: Experimental Biosciences. Experimental strategies focus on the manipulations, instrumentation, and considerations for purifying proteins; after completion of the course you will be familiar with the basic instrumentation used for both separation and characterization of proteins.
  
  • PRE-requisite = Bios 211: Experimental Biosciences
  • PRE- or CO-requisite = Bios 301: Biochemistry

• Bios 311 is taught in the FIRST half of each semester for seven consecutive weeks:
  • ENROLLMENT IS LIMITED TO 24 STUDENTS PER SECTION (a minimum of 8 students must register for this course to be offered)
  • LECTURES are given on MONDAYS from 3:00-4:00 p.m.
  • In FALL, the lab is offered on Tues. (section 001) or Wed. (section 002)
  • In SPRING, the lab is offered on Tues. (section 001) or Wed. (section 002)
  • Lab begins the first or second week of classes
  • Lab is scheduled from 1-6 p.m.
  
  
• HOW TO REGISTER:
  • If you have met the prerequisites, you may register on Esther.
    NOTE: please do not attempt to register if you have not taken Bios 211 and Bios 301; we strictly enforce these prerequisites without any exceptions.
  • You will receive a message from Owl-Space before classes start with information about the first day of lab.
  
  
• REQUIRED TEXTS (reading assignments are listed on the procedure page for each day of lab):
  1. Bios 311 Web site: The course web site is REQUIRED reading material; failure to follow instructions/guidelines given on the site because "...I didn't read that..." is NOT an acceptable excuse.
  2. Lab notebook: Hayden-McNeil, Chemistry Top 100-set, ISBN 978-1-930882-00-9 OR Chemistry Top 50-set, ISBN 978-1-930882-50-5 (also available through Amazon.com)
  3. McMillan, Victoria E. (2006) Writing Papers in the Biological Sciences, 4th Ed., Bedford/St. Martin's, Boston, MA (also available through Borders.com)
  4. Scopes, Robert K. (1994) Protein Purification: Principles and Practice, 3rd Ed., Springer-Verlag New York, Inc., New York, NY (also available through Amazon.com or Borders.com)
  
  
• SCHEDULE CHANGES AND MAKE-UP LABS:
  
  **IF YOU ARE NOT 100% CERTAIN THAT YOU WILL COMPLETE THIS LAB, PLEASE DROP NOW.**
  
  • Do not sign up for this or any Biosciences lab course if there is a strong chance that you will be away for interviews or other travel on a lab day. This course only lasts 7 days--so if you miss one day of lab then you have missed a significant portion of the course. Furthermore, your absence would be a huge inconvenience to your partner and the rest of your group. Check the lab schedules for possible conflicts before making the commitment.
  • The laboratory studies require a considerable investment of the instructor's time and the schedule is tight. Therefore there can be no makeup labs. The sections are typically filled to capacity, especially in the fall. Please don't plan to miss any labs, and don't ask to switch lab days during the course.
  • Remember, the course is offered the first half of each semester.
  
  
• DISABILITY: If you have a disability that you think may affect your degree of success in this or in any other course, please read the notice.

Instructor Information

• WHO: My name is Beth Beason Abmayr (Dr. Beason) and I have a Ph.D. in Physiology & Biophysics from the University of Alabama at Birmingham. I teach BIOS 111, 311, 313, and 413.
  
• WHERE: My office is Biology 211C.
• HOW TO CONTACT ME: I do not have regular office hours while labs are running. If you need to reach me outside of the lab, my preferred method of communication is e-mail (bbeason@rice.edu); I will do my best to respond in a timely manner (weekends, holidays, and early/late hours are excluded). You may also set-up an individual appointment with me. Do not leave me a voice mail message.
• HOW I CONTACT YOU: I will frequently send communications to the class through Owl-Space e-mails or announcements; check any mailing from Owl-Space or the instructor's Rice address or with the subject line starting with "Bios 311:" You will be held responsible for all such communications.
  
  ***CRITICAL INFORMATION*** My primary means of communication with you is via Owl-Space and e-mail:
  1. Please use your Rice e-mail account for communications concerning this course
  2. If you use SPAM filters on your mail readers, make sure you list bbeason@rice.edu as "accept"
  3. Check frequently to ensure that you do not exceed your e-mail quota
  4. Send all new messages and replies to bbeason@rice.edu
  5. If you use an alias, sign the message with your full name
  
  
• RECOMMENDATION LETTER POLICY:
  ***A good letter can carry a lot of weight once you make it through the initial screening process, so think carefully about choosing your recommenders.***
  
  
  • Writing a letter of recommendation is an important, albeit voluntary, responsibility. I put quite a bit of thought into each letter, describing special qualities and recalling specific interactions to emphasize the capabilities of the individual. To write a credible recommendation letter I must know an individual well enough to defend that person's qualifications. Successful completion of Bios 311 does not, by itself, provide a basis for a strong recommendation.
    
    If I decline to write a letter for you it is most likely because I have insufficient information for a credible recommendation. I would be writing a "form" letter based solely on your final grade in my course. For competitive summer programs as well as graduate or professional schools, you need strong supporting letters, not strictly academic letters based on completion of a single course.
    
    
  • I will need a resume, unofficial transcript organized by semester (include your name on printed copies), program address(es), and minimal program information so that the letter can be appropriately targeted. The information can be provided as e-mail attachments.
    
    
  • The beginning of each new semester is an extremely busy time, and my attention must be focused on teaching. If a due date for a letter of recommendation falls during the first seven weeks of classes (fall or spring semester) I must receive all pertinent information for new letters before the first day of classes. Please plan ahead. With reasonable notice, I will provide letters for those students with letters already on file, provided no major modifications are necessary (i.e., the letters were written within the last 6 months or so).
    
    
  • Many summer programs have due dates as early as January 15, with most coming due from February 1 to March 1. Start planning early, and if you want a letter from me and do not have all of the program addresses, at least give me the information needed to write the initial letter before classes start.
    
    
  • Do not wait until the fall semester to request a new letter for medical school; the latest I will write new letters for medical school is JUNE. With reasonable notice, I will provide letters for those students with letters already on file, provided no major modifications are necessary (i.e., the letters were written within the last 6 months or so).
    
    

Research Project Overview

• The major goal of this laboratory project is to determine if the characteristics of a recombinant mouse enzyme expressed in bacteria are the same as those of the enzyme isolated from native mouse tissue. The enzyme, adenosine deaminase (ADA), is partially purified from both sources for characterization.
  
  
• Experimental objectives for Bios 311 include:
  • Master basic tasks essential in any biochemical laboratory, such as checking the calibration of mechanical pipettors, using pH meters and balances, and making biological buffers.
  • Understand how to stabilize a protein through the use of buffer additives.
  • Gain an understanding of available methods for extraction of proteins from whole cells and tissues and how to optimize recovery through choice of source tissues or cultures.
  • Be able to design a protein purification scheme and successfully use both conventional and cartridge column chromatography. This experience will provide an understanding of the variables that affect chromatographic separations.
  • Learn how to interpret published purification tables and be able to follow published procedures.
  • Gain an understanding of spectrophotometry and its use in qualitative and quantitative measurements.
  • Understand how to use electrophoretic methods for determination of relative molecular sizes and isoelectric points of proteins.
  • Use Western blotting and an enzyme activity stain to determine the presence of a specific protein.
  • Learn how to measure kinetic constants and to apply these numbers for characterization of potentially different proteins.
  • Learn how to analyze data and apply the interpretation to the design of subsequent experiments.

Course Organization

• Students work as a TEAM of 3-4, and each team will receive mouse tongue and recombinant E. coli samples. As a team, you will co-purify and characterize ADA from both sources; you will make joint decisions on chromatography protocols so that the enzyme preparations are comparable. Sharing data among a group is necessary to write the final research paper.
  NOTE: ALL members of the TEAM must stay until the experiments for the day are completed (i.e., an individual may not leave "early").
  
  
• Individuals are expected to be prepared for the lecture material and to have read over the experiment for the day. Notebooks are an individual responsibility but all the data is important to other members of the group so write legibly and try to be neat.
  
  
• Each student will be assigned a lab drawer with the basic glassware and supplies for which he(she) is responsible. A list of equipment to be in each drawer will be provided. The student should check that the drawer is complete the first day of class since each student will be accountable for all of the equipment at the end of the lab course. At the end of the course, the lab drawers must be checked again to ensure that all equipment is present and clean: penalties may be assessed for missing, broken, or dirty equipment.
  
  
  • Do NOT write on any labware: use TAPE to label your beakers, bottles, containers, etc.
  • At the end of each lab day, rinse labware with water and return to your drawer.
  • Remove tape and empty solutions before you ask to have your drawer checked.
  
  
• Each bench has two assigned sets of pipets. These pipets must be kept in good working condition and stored properly at the end of each lab.
  NOTE: each set of pipets is color-coded; at the end of each lab day, please make sure that the markings on the pipets match the markings on the acrylic holder.
  Additionally, make sure that the correct set #'s are at your benches (1 & 2, 3 & 4, 5 & 6, etc.).
  
  
• Each team will be held responsible for the cleanliness of work areas at the end of each lab. For example, pipets should be returned to holder, trash should be discarded, and glassware should be rinsed and returned to the lab drawers.
  
  
• Each lab section will be held responsible for the cleanliness of common work areas at the end of each lab. For example, the spectrophotometers should be turned off and covered, and the cuvettes should be in their container; at the balances, spatulas should be rinsed and returned to the container, weigh boats should be discarded, and any spills should be cleaned; pH meters should be turned off and any trash discarded.

Laboratory Safety

• You must review the information on laboratory conduct and safety before working in any of the biosciences labs.
• You will have to buy a pair of safety glasses from the campus bookstore and bring these with you the first day of lab.
• For additional information, please see Rice University Environmental Health and Safety Department.

Copyright, Acknowledgements, and Intended Use
Created by B. Beason (bbeason@rice.edu), Rice University, 25 May 2006
Updated 8 April 2009