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Lab courses are a significant component of biochemistry and molecular biology (BMB) education. In teaching the labs, we combine established techniques with novel approaches. Lab formats have also moved from traditional cookbook style labs to guided inquiry to course‐based undergraduate research experiences (CUREs), where faculty bring their own research interests into the course setting with a larger number of students in a much more restricted time frame. This presentation is designed to explore some of these ideas and challenge the reader to introduce research opportunities to all students, not just the smaller group of students in their research labs.

 

Biochemistry is about structure and function, but it is also about data and this is where computers come in. From my time as a graduate student and post doc, whenever I encountered data I thought, “I can work this up by hand, but I think a computer could do a better job.” Since that time, I have been working at the interface of biochemistry and computers, by attracting talented students and collaborating with colleagues with complementary skills. This has resulted in several exciting projects: a simulation of 2D electrophoresis and tandem mass spectrometry, the human visualization project, and two different programs that enable biochemists to search protein structures for enzyme active sites: ProMOL (promol.org) and Moltimate (moltimate.appspot.com). The human side of software development for education involved finding the right students and colleagues, communicating effectively across disciplines, building and managing effective teams and the importance of serendipity throughout the process.

 

Course‐based Undergraduate Research Experiences (CUREs) can be a very effective means to introduce a large number of students to research. CUREs are often an extension of the instructor's research, which may make them difficult to replicate in other settings because of differences in expertise or facilities. The BASIL (Biochemistry Authentic Scientific Inquiry Lab) CURE has evolved over the past 4 years as faculty members with different backgrounds, facilities, and campus cultures have all contributed to a robust curriculum focusing on enzyme function prediction that is suitable for implementation in a wide variety of academic settings. © 2019 International Union of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 47(5):498–505, 2019.

 

Understanding the molecular evolution of the SARS‐CoV‐2 virus as it continues to spread in communities around the globe is important for mitigation and future pandemic preparedness. Three‐dimensional structures of SARS‐CoV‐2 proteins and those of other coronavirusess archived in the Protein Data Bank were used to analyze viral proteome evolution during the first 6 months of the COVID‐19 pandemic. Analyses of spatial locations, chemical properties, and structural and energetic impacts of the observed amino acid changes in >48 000 viral isolates revealed how each one of 29 viral proteins have undergone amino acid changes. Catalytic residues in active sites and binding residues in protein–protein interfaces showed modest, but significant, numbers of substitutions, highlighting the mutational robustness of the viral proteome. Energetics calculations showed that the impact of substitutions on the thermodynamic stability of the proteome follows a universal bi‐Gaussian distribution. Detailed results are presented for potential drug discovery targets and the four structural proteins that comprise the virion, highlighting substitutions with the potential to impact protein structure, enzyme activity, and protein–protein and protein–nucleic acid interfaces. Characterizing the evolution of the virus in three dimensions provides testable insights into viral protein function and should aid in structure‐based drug discovery efforts as well as the prospective identification of amino acid substitutions with potential for drug resistance.

 

Campus shutdowns during the SARS-CoV2 pandemic posed unique challenges to faculty and students engaged in laboratory courses. Formerly hands-on experiments had to be quickly pivoted to emergency remote learning. While some resources existed prior to this period, many currently available online modules and/or simulations focus on a single technique. The Biochemistry Authentic Scientific Inquiry Lab (BASIL) curriculum has, for several years, provided a robust, linked, holistic inquiry experience that allows students to make connections between multiple techniques, both computational in nature as well as wet-lab based. As a Course-based Undergraduate Research Experience (CURE), this flexible, module-based curriculum allows students to generate original hypotheses based on analysis of proteins of unknown function. We have taught this curriculum as the upper-level laboratory course on our campuses and were obliged to transition to remote instruction at various points in the course sequence. We report on the experiences of faculty and students over the transition period in this course. Additionally, we report as a case study results of one of our campus’ ongoing discipline-based education research (DBER) on the BASIL curriculum prior to and during remote delivery. 

Publishing has always been a part of academic tradition and there is increasing pressure on faculty to publish, even those who carry heavy teaching loads. This article, based on a presentation at the IUBMB 2019 Education Conference session on Publishing in Education, contains suggestions on how to conduct educational research with an eye toward publishing your findings.