Abstract
The cell biology discipline constitutes a highly dynamic field whose concepts take a long time to be incorporated into the educational system, especially in developing countries. Amongst the main obstacles to the introduction of new cell biology concepts to students is their general lack of identification with most teaching methods. The introduction of elaborated figures, movies and animations to textbooks has given a tremendous contribution to the learning process and the search for novel teaching methods has been a central goal in cell biology education. Some specialized tools, however, are usually only available in advanced research centers or in institutions that are traditionally involved with the development of novel teaching/learning processes, and are far from becoming reality in the majority of life sciences schools. When combined with the known declining interest in science among young people, a critical scenario may result. This is especially important in the field of electron microscopy and associated techniques, methods that have greatly contributed to the current knowledge on the structure and function of different cell biology models but are rarely made accessible to most students. In this work, we propose a strategy to increase the engagement of students into the world of cell and structural biology by combining 3D electron microscopy techniques and 3D prototyping technology (3D printing) to generate 3D physical models that accurately and realistically reproduce a close-to-the native structure of the cell and serve as a tool for students and teachers outside the main centers. We introduce three strategies for 3D imaging, modeling and prototyping of cells and propose the establishment of a virtual platform where different digital models can be deposited by EM groups and subsequently downloaded and printed in different schools, universities, research centers and museums, thereby modernizing teaching of cell biology and increasing the accessibility to modern approaches in basic science.
Highlights
The study of cells and tissues has become tightly associated with new tools since the 17th century [1,2,3] when biology became a breeding ground for new discoveries
This study was approved by the Ethics Committee for Animal Experimentation of the Health Sciences Centre of the Federal University of Espírito Santo, under the Protocol number 033/ 2014 according to the Brazilian federal law (11.794/2008, Decreto n° 6.899/2009), which is based on the “Guide for the Care and Use of Laboratory Animals” prepared by the National Academy of Sciences, USA, and the “Australian Code of Practice for Care and Use of Animal for Scientific Purpose.”
Digital segmentation of each structure of interest generated an equal number of objects—flat colored representations of the membranes and organelles (Fig 2B and 2C)—that were processed to gain an artificial surface volume (Fig 2D)
Summary
The study of cells and tissues has become tightly associated with new tools since the 17th century [1,2,3] when biology became a breeding ground for new discoveries. The Electron Microscope (EM) emerged as a cell biology tool in the late 1930s [4] and has since enormously contributed to our understanding of cell structure and function [5, 6]. All the progress in the cell biology field brought great possibilities to study and to understand how cells work, and how they develop and coordinate complex systems in the body. As science has advanced, this has become less understood and assimilated by students who might eventually contribute to the field. This gap is becoming larger and larger, demanding the introduction of novel teaching strategies that can connect scientists to students in elementary degrees of education
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