“第五届全国暨青年微生物遗传学学术研讨会”将在重庆召开

为展示我国微生物遗传学领域的最新研究成果,推动微生物遗传学研究的快速发展,中国遗传学会微生物遗传学专业委员会主办的"第五届全国暨青年微生物遗传学学术研讨会"将于2012年10月12-15日在重庆市西南大学召开。会议主题为:系统和合成生物学时代的微生物遗传学。     

高校教改纵横栏目简介及撰稿要求

"高校教改纵横"栏目,原"高等院校教学",是中国微生物学会主办的科技期刊中唯一的教学类栏目,也是中国自然科学核心期刊中为数不多的教学栏目。该栏目专为微生物学及其相关学科领域高校教师开辟,一方面为高校微生物学科的教师提供一个发表论文的平台,同时微生物关联学科的一部分确实优秀的论文也可以在此发表,是微生物学及相关领域教学研究、交流、提高的园地。     

高校教改纵横栏目简介及撰稿要求

"高校教改纵横"栏目,原"高等院校教学",是中国微生物学会主办的科技期刊中唯一的教学类栏目,也是中国自然科学核心期刊中为数不多的教学栏目。该栏目专为微生物学及其相关学科领域高校教师开辟,一方面为高校微生物学科的教师提供一个发表论文的平台,同时微生物关联学科的一部分确实优秀的论文也可以在此发表,是微生物学及相关领域教学研究、交流、提高的园地。     

后基因组时代微生物遗传学教学的探讨

对后基因组时代"微生物遗传学"课程教学进行探讨。提出以故事化课堂和形象化讲解增加学生的学习乐趣。为了更好地帮助学生理解后基因组学方法,将后基因组学与微生物遗传学融合教学(包括正向遗传学方法与快速正向遗传学方法、单基因敲除和表型分析与全基因组规模基因敲除和表型分析、传统的遗传相互作用与全基因组的遗传相互作用融合讲授)。此外,生物信息学网络资源的介绍延伸了课堂教学并提高了课堂教学质量。     

新形势下开展微生物类课程教学改革的探索与实践

生物科学和生物技术专业连续数年位列高考"红牌警告"专业;互联网+的飞速发展和智能手机的广泛使用,让教师和学生可以同时获得生物科学与技术的最新研究信息。在这样的新形势下如何开展微生物类课程教学?这是每一位专业教师必须直面的课题。本文结合南开大学精品资源共享课"微生物发酵工程"的建设,结合理论教学、实验教学和实践教学"三位一体"的教学模式,谈谈我们对于微生物类课程教学的思考与实践探索。     

高校教改纵横栏目简介及撰稿要求

"高校教改纵横"栏目,是中国微生物学会主办的科技期刊中唯一的教学类栏目,也是中国自然科学核心期刊中为数不多的教学栏目。该栏目专为微生物学及其相关学科领域高校教师开辟,一方面为高校微生物学科的教师提供一个发表论文的平台,同时微生物关联学科的一部分确实优秀的论文也可以在此发表,是微生物学及相关领域教学研究、交流、提高的园地。     

高校教改纵横栏目简介及撰稿要求

"高校教改纵横"栏目,是中国微生物学会主办的科技期刊中唯一的教学类栏目,也是中国自然科学核心期刊中为数不多的教学栏目。该栏目专为微生物学及其相关学科领域高校教师开辟,一方面为高校微生物学科的教师提供一个发表论文的平台,同时微生物关联学科的一部分确实优秀的论文也可以在此发表,是微生物学及相关领域教学研究、交流、提高的园地。     

高校教改纵横栏目简介及撰稿要求

"高校教改纵横"栏目,是中国微生物学会主办的科技期刊中唯一的教学类栏目,也是中国自然科学核心期刊中为数不多的教学栏目。该栏目专为微生物学及其相关学科领域高校教师开辟,一方面为高校微生物学科的教师提供一个发表论文的平台,同时微生物关联学科的一部分确实优秀的论文也可以在此发表,是微生物学及相关领域教学研究、交流、提高的园地。     

高校教改纵横栏目简介及撰稿要求

"高校教改纵横"栏目,是中国微生物学会主办的科技期刊中唯一的教学类栏目,也是中国自然科学核心期刊中为数不多的教学栏目。该栏目专为微生物学及其相关学科领域高校教师开辟,一方面为高校微生物学科的教师提供一个发表论文的平台,同时微生物关联学科的一部分确实优秀的论文也可以在此发表,是微生物学及相关领域教学研究、交流、提高的园地。     

基于整合宏组学技术认识腐生生境功能微生物区系

微生物区系在天然生境中分布广泛,利用传统纯培养等方法无法全面认识其分布和功能,因此被认为是地球上的"暗物质"。随着新一代测序技术与高分辨率质谱技术的快速发展,研究者可以在非培养条件下全面快速分析天然生境中微生物组及其动态变化,这开启了微生物组时代,使得研究地球上"暗物质"成为可能,从而改变了微生物学研究的现状。腐生生境作为生物地球化学循环的重要推动部分,因其高效降解转化有机废弃物能力而被广泛关注。腐生生境由于原料多变、环境复杂等原因未能被全面深入研究,而整合宏组学技术则为解析相关生境微生物区系的多样性及其功能动态演替规律奠定了技术基础。基于整合宏组学数据分析与环境参数的优化,可以在认识微生物组及其功能的动态水平上,针对复杂物料建立高效降解转化的绿色转化工艺,促进农牧业废弃物无害化和资源化利用进程。     

Climate change,collections and the classroom: using big data to tackle big problems

Preparing students to explore, understand, and resolve societal challenges such as global climate change is an important task for evolutionary and ecological biologists that will require novel and innovative pedagogical approaches. Recent calls to reform undergraduate science education emphasize the importance of engaging students in inquiry-driven, active, and authentic learning experiences. We believe that the vast digital resources (i.e., “big data”) associated with natural history collections provide invaluable but underutilized opportunities to create such experiences for undergraduates in biology. Here, we describe an online, open-access educational module that we have developed that harnesses the power of collections-based information to introduce students to multiple conceptual and analytical elements of climate change, evolutionary, and ecological biology research. The module builds upon natural history specimens and data collected over the span of nearly a century in Yosemite National Park, California, to guide students through a series of exercises aimed at testing hypotheses regarding observed differences in response to climate change by two closely related and partially co-occurring species of chipmunks. The content of the module can readily be modified to meet the pedagogical goals and instructional levels of different courses while the analytical strategies outlined can be adapted to address a wide array of questions in evolutionary and ecological biology. In sum, we believe that specimen-based natural history data represent a powerful platform for reforming undergraduate instruction in biology. Because these efforts will result in citizens who are better prepared to understand complex biological relationships, the benefits of this approach to undergraduate education will have widespread benefits to society.     

生物信息学本科人才培养的调研与思考

近年来,生物信息学已经逐步发展成为现代生物学和医学等领域的关键技术方法,社会对生物信息学专业人才的需求不断扩大,生物信息学的本科教育也受到了越来越多的关注和重视。为了探索更加合理的人才培养模式、完善课程设置和教学计划,本文以中美两国开设生物信息学本科专业的高校为对象,分别选取一些代表高校并进行深入调研,对比分析课程设置和人才培养现状。结果显示,生物信息学的跨学科性质在各高校中均得到一定体现,培养学生具有多元化的知识结构已经成为生物信息学人才培养的一项共识。同时,根据调研的结果,也对国内生物信息学本科教育提出一些启发与建议。     

Integrating Interactive Computational Modeling in Biology Curricula

While the use of computer tools to simulate complex processes such as computer circuits is normal practice in fields like engineering, the majority of life sciences/biological sciences courses continue to rely on the traditional textbook and memorization approach. To address this issue, we explored the use of the Cell Collective platform as a novel, interactive, and evolving pedagogical tool to foster student engagement, creativity, and higher-level thinking. Cell Collective is a Web-based platform used to create and simulate dynamical models of various biological processes. Students can create models of cells, diseases, or pathways themselves or explore existing models. This technology was implemented in both undergraduate and graduate courses as a pilot study to determine the feasibility of such software at the university level. First, a new (In Silico Biology) class was developed to enable students to learn biology by “building and breaking it” via computer models and their simulations. This class and technology also provide a non-intimidating way to incorporate mathematical and computational concepts into a class with students who have a limited mathematical background. Second, we used the technology to mediate the use of simulations and modeling modules as a learning tool for traditional biological concepts, such as T cell differentiation or cell cycle regulation, in existing biology courses. Results of this pilot application suggest that there is promise in the use of computational modeling and software tools such as Cell Collective to provide new teaching methods in biology and contribute to the implementation of the “Vision and Change” call to action in undergraduate biology education by providing a hands-on approach to biology.     

Development and evaluation of a genetics literacy assessment instrument for undergraduates

There is continued emphasis on increasing and improving genetics education for grades K-12, for medical professionals, and for the general public. Another critical audience is undergraduate students in introductory biology and genetics courses. To improve the learning of genetics, there is a need to first assess students' understanding of genetics concepts and their level of genetics literacy (i.e., genetics knowledge as it relates to, and affects, their lives). We have developed and evaluated a new instrument to assess the genetics literacy of undergraduate students taking introductory biology or genetics courses. The Genetics Literacy Assessment Instrument is a 31-item multiple-choice test that addresses 17 concepts identified as central to genetics literacy. The items were selected and modified on the basis of reviews by 25 genetics professionals and educators. The instrument underwent additional analysis in student focus groups and pilot testing. It has been evaluated using approximately 400 students in eight introductory nonmajor biology and genetics courses. The content validity, discriminant validity, internal reliability, and stability of the instrument have been considered. This project directly enhances genetics education research by providing a valid and reliable instrument for assessing the genetics literacy of undergraduate students.     

Teaching Synthetic Biology, Bioinformatics and Engineering to Undergraduates: The Interdisciplinary Build-a-Genome Course

A major challenge in undergraduate life science curricula is the continual evaluation and development of courses that reflect the constantly shifting face of contemporary biological research. Synthetic biology offers an excellent framework within which students may participate in cutting-edge interdisciplinary research and is therefore an attractive addition to the undergraduate biology curriculum. This new discipline offers the promise of a deeper understanding of gene function, gene order, and chromosome structure through the de novo synthesis of genetic information, much as synthetic approaches informed organic chemistry. While considerable progress has been achieved in the synthesis of entire viral and prokaryotic genomes, fabrication of eukaryotic genomes requires synthesis on a scale that is orders of magnitude higher. These high-throughput but labor-intensive projects serve as an ideal way to introduce undergraduates to hands-on synthetic biology research. We are pursuing synthesis of Saccharomyces cerevisiae chromosomes in an undergraduate laboratory setting, the Build-a-Genome course, thereby exposing students to the engineering of biology on a genomewide scale while focusing on a limited region of the genome. A synthetic chromosome III sequence was designed, ordered from commercial suppliers in the form of oligonucleotides, and subsequently assembled by students into ~750-bp fragments. Once trained in assembly of such DNA “building blocks” by PCR, the students accomplish high-yield gene synthesis, becoming not only technically proficient but also constructively critical and capable of adapting their protocols as independent researchers. Regular “lab meeting” sessions help prepare them for future roles in laboratory science.     

Microscopy images as interactive tools in cell modeling and cell biology education

The advent of genomics, proteomics, and microarray technology has brought much excitement to science, both in teaching and in learning. The public is eager to know about the processes of life. In the present context of the explosive growth of scientific information, a major challenge of modern cell biology is to popularize basic concepts of structures and functions of living cells, to introduce people to the scientific method, to stimulate inquiry, and to analyze and synthesize concepts and paradigms. In this essay we present our experience in mixing science and education in Brazil. For two decades we have developed activities for the science education of teachers and undergraduate students, using microscopy images generated by our work as cell biologists. We describe open-air outreach education activities, games, cell modeling, and other practical and innovative activities presented in public squares and favelas. Especially in developing countries, science education is important, since it may lead to an improvement in quality of life while advancing understanding of traditional scientific ideas. We show that teaching and research can be mutually beneficial rather than competing pursuits in advancing these goals.     

The essence of student visual-spatial literacy and higher order thinking skills in undergraduate biology

Science, engineering and mathematics-related disciplines have relied heavily on a researcher's ability to visualize phenomena under study and being able to link and superimpose various abstract and concrete representations including visual, spatial, and temporal. The spatial representations are especially important in all branches of biology (in developmental biology time becomes an important dimension), where 3D and often 4D representations are crucial for understanding the phenomena. By the time biology students get to undergraduate education, they are supposed to have acquired visual-spatial thinking skills, yet it has been documented that very few undergraduates and a small percentage of graduate students have had a chance to develop these skills to a sufficient degree. The current paper discusses the literature that highlights the essence of visual-spatial thinking and the development of visual-spatial literacy, considers the application of the visual-spatial thinking to biology education, and proposes how modern technology can help to promote visual-spatial literacy and higher order thinking among undergraduate students of biology.     

《分子生物学》研究性教学初探

当前高等学校教学改革的一个重要特点在于倡导进行研究性教学,研究性教学成为现代教学理念的构成要素,它是对传统的传递式——被动接受式的教育理念的革新。这种教学模式有利于培养学生研究能力,提升教学的有效性。从理论教学、问题情境教学、实验教学、科研成果的引入等4个方面阐述在《分子生物学》教学中如何运用研究性教学模式,贯穿研究性教学理念,有效培养学生的研究能力。     

Integrating microscopy,art, and humanities to power STEAM learning in biology

Close observation is central to both art and science as practitioners in both disciplines describe, compare, and seek to understand or interpret the natural world. Indeed, as the artist and writer Guy Davenport noted, “The vision by which we discover the hidden in nature is sometimes called science, sometimes called art.” In the last decade, the movement to integrate science, technology, engineering, and mathematics with arts and humanities (i.e., STEAM learning) has gained traction in K–12 education. A recent National Academies report (2018) examines the case for integrating humanities and the arts in undergraduate STEM education. Microscopy provides an excellent vehicle for engaging all kinds of students in integrative (STEAM) learning about biology and for encouraging them to observe the world closely. In this essay adapted from my keynote address to the American Microscopical Society in 2020, I highlight activities and approaches that use microscopy to engage learners of all kinds, examine how using microscopes changes students’ attitudes about science and biology, and explore the intersection of microscopy and visual art.     

‘Generation Nemo’: motivations,satisfaction and career goals of marine biology students*

Marine biology is an increasingly preferred study major and career among youth. This is particularly the case of countries with extensive coastlines, such as Italy. In order to understand what exactly is fuelling this trend, and whether it culminates in the successful absorption of marine biologists as valued workforce by society, this study investigated the motivations, satisfaction and career goals of marine biology undergraduate students in Italy. Although it was expected that scientific literacy in formal education plays an important role in motivating marine biology students, the results showed that intrinsic motivations and informal education play a more crucial role. The students consider realistic career options, although these imply having to leave the country. The results of this study were used to make recommendations on the importance of marine and ocean literacy in the formal educational system in Italy, and the general improvement of scientific literacy in formal school education. Recommendations were also made on the potential improvements that can be made by higher education institutions, to better equip marine biologists with the skills required by emerging sectors in society. Finally, considerations were made regarding the dimensioning of supply, offer and marketing of employment opportunities for marine biologists in Italy.