1 Going Green: Using GFP to Investigate Bioinformatics “It’s not easy being green!” Kermit the Frog Jon Connolly Susan Cronin Mary Elizabeth “M.E.” Jones Luci Levesque

2 Goal Develop a teaching strategy utilizing GFP for the purpose of investigating the realm of bioinformatics

3 Research Questions for Investigation What is GFP? Where does GFP come from? What does GFP look like? How does GFP compare to BFP? – Structurally and sequentially What are the DNA/protein sequences of GFP? What is the structure of GFP? How might a scientist use GFP to study cells? What is the effect of mutation on GFP? What is the interaction between aquorin and GFP? What is the mathematical representation(s) of GFP and how does a mathematical view support biological functions?

4 Rationale Science in the 21 st Century transcends the boundaries of traditional science disciplines Therefore, science curricula must: – Cultivate the integrated use of scientific concepts – Develop individuals who can collaborate and interact as a diverse yet holistic team – Provide opportunities for using inquiry, creative problem solving, and life long learning skills

5 Proposed Areas of Study Structural biology Sequential Analysis: – DNA – Protein Evolutionary Relationships/Biological Phylogeny Mutation Research Nature of Fluorescence Regulation Construction of vectors

6 GFP Strengths Using GFP will act as an unifying organism/molecule that is currently used in – Secondary science as well undergraduate and graduate research GFP is an appropriate tool for: – Analyzing structure – Determining function – Understanding chemical activity – Identifying relationships of variants & mutants – Using GFP in designing constructs to investigate cellular structures and metabolism

7 Target Audiences Secondary education class in biotechnology High school teacher education programs Undergraduate study: – Majors & Non-Majors Student investigations and research Application of math and software for: – Data analysis – Algorithms

8 Operational Aspects – Elements that Facilitate Learning (1 of 2) Introduction to GFP including ‘what it is’ as well as its importance & relevance to biology Background Curricular Materials: – Examples of handouts and assignments Examples of student work: – Project Examples

9 Operational Aspects – Elements that Facilitate Learning (2 of 2) Open research questions Resources: – References and links to background information: NCBI Biology Workbench Protein Explorer Swiss PDB Viewer – GFP data sets and sources – Bibliography

10 Operational Aspects - Strategies to Engage Students in Problem Spaces – No demonstrations

11 Operational Aspects – Learning Outcomes

12 Conclusion