Incorporation of a Virtual Proteomics Module into the Undergraduate Analytical Curriculum
Proteomics, or the study of the set of proteins in an organism, tissue, or cell, is a rapidly growing field within bioanalytical chemistry that can be used to investigate many biological questions. However, proteomics is not fully integrated into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum because of a l...
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Published in: | Journal of chemical education 2023-08, Vol.100 (8), p.3124-3131 |
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Main Authors: | , , , |
Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Subjects: | |
Citations: | Items that this one cites |
Online Access: | Get full text |
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Summary: | Proteomics, or the study of the set of proteins in an organism, tissue, or cell, is a rapidly growing field within bioanalytical chemistry that can be used to investigate many biological questions. However, proteomics is not fully integrated into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum because of a lack of access to expertise, the cost of required analytical instrumentation (liquid chromatography [LC] and mass spectrometry [MS]), and the time required for proteomics experiments. A virtual proteomics module was developed for flexible learning environments (i.e., in-person, hybrid, online) to introduce undergraduate Analytical Chemistry students to proteomics without the need for expensive instrumentation. This module teaches students about proteomics sample preparation and data acquisition, provides real LC-MS/MS data from unknown plasma samples for students to analyze, and provides experience with Mascot, a free online data analysis platform that can be used to identify the species of origin. The module was implemented in Introduction to Analytical Chemistry in two ways: (1) as a laboratory (online; ∼120 min) and (2) as a lecture (hybrid; ∼75 min). Students reported improved knowledge of proteomics after exposure to this module with average quiz scores increasing from 27% to 73%. In the lecture implementation, >90% of students successfully identified their unknowns, with almost 80% correctly justifying their conclusions. Additionally, students demonstrated increased interest in proteomics by formulating more complex research questions on the post-quiz (average of 40 words) than the pre-quiz (average of 18 words). This module was effective for students across majors and years and is a valuable educational tool that incorporates proteomics into the undergraduate chemistry curriculum across learning environments. |
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ISSN: | 0021-9584 1938-1328 |
DOI: | 10.1021/acs.jchemed.3c00067 |