Development of an experiment for high school biotechnology laboratory programs

Abstract

For the past 20 years, IISME (Industry Initiatives for Science and Math Education) has linked San Francisco Bay Area K-12 science and math educators in summer partnerships with professionals in local industry and academia. As summer fellows, teachers gain hands-on practical experiences that may serve as a stimulus for curriculum development. The host employer gains not only a mature short-term employee to work on relevant problems but also the satisfaction of being able to make a real long-term contribution to education at the summer fellow’s home institution. In the current study we describe the development of a biotechnology laboratory exercise suitable for incorporation into a high school advanced placement biology or biotechnology course. In this exercise, students gain experience in using size-exclusion chromatography to separate a mixture of macromolecules. Students chromatographically separate a standard mixture of three highly colored macromolecules of known molar mass on a short Sephacryl S-300 column, determining their relative elution volumes. Students subsequently apply a sample of wheat germ acid phosphatase to the column, collect eluant fractions, and determine the elution volume of the enzyme by means of a quick enzyme assay carried out in a 96 well plate. The relative molar mass of the enzyme is later estimated by comparison of its elution volume to the elution volumes of the macromolecules in the standard mixture. This work was supported by an IISME summer fellowship grant from Santa Clara University.