Open AccessTeaching the Central Dogma through an Inquiry-Based Project Using GFP
Author(s) -
Cynthia Bujanda,
Nadja Anderson
Publication year - 2022
Publication title -
the american biology teacher
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.277
H-Index - 30
eISSN - 1938-4211
pISSN - 0002-7685
DOI - 10.1525/abt.2022.84.1.33
Subject(s) - green fluorescent protein , class (philosophy) , mathematics education , test (biology) , engineering ethics , computer science , chemistry , biology , psychology , engineering , biochemistry , ecology , artificial intelligence , gene
The Central Dogma is a crucial concept needed to understand biotechnology and molecular biology. High school students often struggle with a meaningful understanding of this abstract concept. This paper presents an inquiry-based approach to increase critical thinking and understanding of the Central Dogma. Commonly used in high school classrooms is Bio-Rad pGLO plasmid containing green fluorescent protein (GFP), because of its accessibility and the fluorescence it emits when exposed to ultraviolet light. We use the expression of GFP in a high school hands-on class project so that students can visualize and understand the abstract concepts of the Central Dogma. Students will also explore protein structure and its importance for a functional protein. During the entire project, students will be guided by the instructor to build hypotheses and design experiments to test those hypotheses, exercising the scientific method.