BBCCL-104

Cell Biology Lab

About the Course

Welcome to Cell Biology Laboratory Course (BBCCL-104). It is the second laboratory course of the B.Sc. (Hons.) Biochemistry programme. This Lab course is worth 2 credits which is based on the theory course of the Cell Biology. Laboratory course is an integral part of science education at all level that improves curiosity and inquiry skills towards science. In this laboratory course, you will be asked to perform experiments which are dealing with the study of animal and plant cells using the microscopy. Each experiment is described with the procedure details in this lab manual that will guide you step-by-step to carry out experiment. Each experiment has also been illustrated with diagrams and coloured illustrations. The results and observations sections will help you to interpret and compare your findings. This lab course will provide you "hands-on" laboratory activities to better enforce certain topics discussed in the theory course of cell biology and would enhance your scientific thinking, observational capacity as well as to develop practical skills.

ObjectiVeS

After studying this Lab course and performing the experiments, you will be able to:

  • define the basic parts of a compound microscope and practicing its handling;

  • prepare microscope slides and staining the biological specimens (animal, blood and plant cells);

  • observe and identify different stages of meiosis and mitosis;

  • describe structure and function of cells and sub-cellular organelles by micrographs;

  • view the mitochondria and nucleus in the cells and;

  • take observations and analyze results after performing the experiments.

Self Learning Material

BBCCL-104.pdf

In this block, there are eight experiments that focus on using the microscope and staining technique to study various aspects of cell. Therefore, we will begin first exercise by explaining optical microscope as it is most important tool of cell biology. Experiment 1 is on the Compound microscope dealing with the basic principle and its handling. You will also be able to identify permanent slides of some of thespecimens. Experiment 2 is the slide preparation where you will learn the preparation of wet mount, dry mount, smear and squash. In experiment 3 you will prepare temporary staining slide to study the animal and plant cells. Experiments 4 and 5 based on identification of different stages of mitosis and meiosis of onion tips and onion buds respectively where you will observe and study the different stages of cell division. Experiment 6 is on micrographs of different cell components (dry lab) where you will be studying the cell structure and functions using the online resources. Experiments 7and 8 related to visualization and identification of nucleus and mitochondria by the staining technique of acetocarmine and Janus green dye respectively.

lEARNING WEB RESOURCES: Cell Biology Lab

Brief overview of Experiment 1 Compound Microscope.

This videos is about the preparation blood smear and a Temporary mount of human epithelial cells which are pertaining to Experiment 3 Visualisation of Animal and Plant cell.

VIRTUAL LAB