A Project-Based Learning Mode for Science Students: Fluorescent Protein Expression in Trypanosomes

An effective, practical approach for incorporating molecular biology tools to biology and biochemistry students is described. For 6 weeks, students are exposed to bacterial transformation, plasmid DNA purification and analysis, parasite transfection, ectopic expression of fluorescent proteins, fluorescence microscopy, and flow cytometry analysis. This research-oriented laboratory course delves into theoretical and practical concepts of basic techniques in molecular biology to emphasize the logical connections between the obtained results and the resolution of problems that arise daily in a research laboratory, training the students in planning, conducting, discussing, and presenting their own experiments and results.