An Instrumental Analysis Laboratory Module Designed to Build Basic Skills and Reinforce Some Fundamental Concepts in Biochemistry

This work describes a coherent interdisciplinary laboratory module designed to teach students skills and concepts from both biochemistry and instrumental analysis. The module has been effective at overcoming gaps in students’ skills and knowledge. Working as individuals, students prepare various bovine serum albumin (BSA) solutions in the denaturing agents, urea and 2-mercaptoethanol . After letting the solutions equilibrate, students measure the intrinsic fluorescence of the BSA. The experiment takes two three-hour class periods and 50 minutes of classroom discussion. In the first lab period, one hour is spent explaining and reviewing major concepts such as fluorescence and protein structure; the remaining two hours are spent on solution preparation. In the second lab period, the first two hours are spent on data acquisition and the last one is dedicated to explaining how to process the data. After the students have processed their data, about 50 minutes of guided classroom discussions are needed to teach or reinforce fundamental concepts. Student data are compared to instructor data in order to illustrate the most common errors encountered by students. Detailed student instructions and considerations for the instructor are included in the supplementary information. The module is well suited for an instrumental analysis laboratory.