Functional Genomics in the Undergraduate Curriculum. (Science Education Section).

* Eckdahl, T., D. Ash, and N. Reece. Department of Biology, Missouri Western State College. FUNCTIONAL GENOMICS IN THE UNDERGRADUATE CURRICULUM. Microarray technology promises to revolutionize the investigation of gene expression at the genomic level, but it has been inaccessible to undergraduates because of limitations in funding and faculty expertise. To address these issues, the Genome Consortium for Active Teaching (GCAT) was organized in December 1999 to bring functional genomics methods into undergraduate courses and independent student research. Its goals are to make microarray experiments affordable through cost sharing, to provide a clearinghouse of information, raw data and analyzed results for use in teaching genomics, and to develop a network of teachers using functional genomics. In September of 2000, the first GCAT members (23 faculty from the US and Canada) obtained 135 yeast DNA microarrays (provided by Dr. Pat Brown of Stanford University) which consist of every open reading frame from the b udding yeast S. cerevisiae. As part of GCAT, Missouri Western students conducted functional genomics experiments to address the effects of DNA binding drugs on global patterns of gene expression in yeast. They gained experience in experimental design, yeast culturing, RNA isolation, preparation of fluorescent cDNA probes, hybridization, and microarray data analysis. The in-class experiments have also lead to exciting independent research projects for several students. These outcomes at Missouri Western validate the GCAT approach and support the view that it will have an important impact on undergraduate education.