Discovery-Based Science Education: Functional Genomic Dissection in Drosophila by Undergraduate Researchers

Abstract

T he excitement of scientifi c research and discovery cannot be fully conveyed by didactic lectures alone. Several recent initiatives and proposals, therefore, have supported a more participatory, discovery-based instruction for undergraduate science education In functional genomics, we have found an ideal platform to simultaneously benefi t students and contribute to scientifi c discovery. The sequencing of eukaryotic genomes has facilitated the identifi cation of complete sets of genes in humans and model genetic organisms. This has allowed many forms of high-throughput analyses of transcriptional profi les, protein interactions, structural motifs, and even genome-wide knock-downs in cell lines or in selected organisms. However, one of the best tools to provide functional information about gene actionobtaining in vivo evidence about the phenotype resulting from heritable loss of function-is diffi cult and less amenable to high-throughput research. We were able to achieve a large-scale in vivo analysis with a signifi cant number