Course Objectives:

• Practice testing a hypothesis through experimentation from the planning of an experiment to the collection, analysis, interpretation and reporting of data.

• Practice basic laboratory techniques and safety.

Topics Include:

• the use modern molecular cloning techniques to express and detect a gene of interest in neural tissue.

• how to find methods and plan molecular biology experiments so that you will be able to work independently on a future project

• the use of software methods to plan multistep molecular biology experiments.

• manipulating DNA in the laboratory including isolation, amplification, quantification, and detection of a specific transcript.

• performing in vivo time-lapse imaging, image analysis and quantification.

• working cooperatively in a molecular neurobiology lab.