BIONB 4300 - Experimental Molecular Neurobiology

(BIO-AS, PBS-AS)

Spring. 4 credits. Letter grades only.

Prerequisite: BIOMG 3300 or BIOMG 3310. Recommended prerequisite: BIOMG 2801.

D.L. Deitcher.

Experiments include PCR, western blots, RNAi, antibody staining, optogenetics, calcium imaging of neurons and behavioral assays. Students will also construct their own epifluoresence microscope. Experiments emphasize how molecular techniques can be applied to studying neurobiological problems and will culminate in designing your own experiments. If you have additional questions please contact dld14@cornell.edu.

Outcome 1: Demonstrate competence in basic molecular biology and protein biochemistry skills in the laboratory and the underlying principles of these techniques.

Outcome 2: Demonstrate mastery of basic bioinformatics tools such as BLASTN, TBLASTN, and BLASTP and using model organism databases such as FlyBase.

Outcome 3: Weigh how various laboratory methods offer complementary insights into the characterization of gene expression.

Outcome 4: Demonstrate a mastery of scientific procedures and data analysis by crafting comprehensive laboratory reports.