Basic Biology Experiments - (Tutorial for Public Course on Non-Biological Majors)

Author: Li Jinhua
Publisher:
Publish Date: 2006-05-01
Features: Life science is the study of life phenomena, patterns, and their essence. It is a science that constantly impacts our quality of life (such as food, health, behavior, and living environments). The rapid development of life science theory and technology in the latter half of the 20th century has brought humanity's understanding of life phenomena and essence to an unprecedented new stage. The 21st century has become the century of life science. Life science is a discipline based on experiments. To understand life phenomena and explore the mysteries of life, not only does a solid theoretical foundation is required, but also the ability to use modern experimental instruments and techniques to study life phenomena, discover and master the laws of life activities. For students in non-biological majors, learning basic biological experimental techniques is a crucial part of cultivating innovative and interdisciplinary talents in the new era. To meet the needs of talent cultivation, the School of Life Sciences at Anhui University, based on years of teaching practice and drawing on the experience of other institutions, organized relevant teachers to compile this textbook, "Fundamentals of Biological Experiments," to facilitate experimental guidance for teachers and learning for students in non-biological majors. Considering that students in non-biological fields have diverse academic backgrounds and varying levels of biological knowledge, as a public course textbook, it must balance the breadth of knowledge and the emphasis on key points. From the teaching objectives of understanding life phenomena, mastering basic biological experimental techniques and methods, stimulating learning interest, and inspiring associative thinking, we have compiled 23 experiments from the molecular, cellular to individual levels, divided into four modules.
Module 1: Observational and Sterile Culture Techniques Experiments
This module focuses on learning the use of ordinary optical microscopes and simple tissue staining techniques, mastering sterile operation and culture techniques, and understanding the basic structural units and life activities of living organisms.
Module 2: Detection Experiments
This module includes experiments such as human blood type detection, physiological tests of animals and plants, environmental microbial and enzyme detection, and the extraction and detection of chlorophyll. These experiments aim to deepen the understanding of life, the environment, and human beings themselves.
Module 3: Dissection and Specimen Preparation Experiments
By learning general dissection methods of animals and plants and specimen preparation techniques, students can further recognize the relationship between the structure and function of living organisms.
Module 4: Biochemical and Molecular Biology Experiments
This module includes protein extraction, enzyme activity determination, nucleic acid extraction and detection, plasmid DNA transformation, and PCR technology, enabling students to gain a preliminary understanding and mastery of basic biochemical and molecular biology techniques and methods.
This book primarily introduces observational and sterile culture techniques experiments, detection experiments, dissection and specimen preparation, as well as biochemical and molecular biology experiments.