My students conduct research in two different rooms: one is a dedicated lab space for independent research and the other is a teaching lab space for biochemistry and physical chemistry courses. In practice, the same project takes place in both rooms, which requires an organized system to give protocols to and collect data from different students working on the same project at different times, both independently and in a classroom setting. This transfer of knowledge across time has been facilitated by an online data communication tool called GENI-ACT.org that provides a structure and archive for student results. A recent project facilitated by GENI-ACT involves mapping the structural determinants of binding for the immunodominant bacterial adhesin MgpB. As this project progressed it involved different combinations of students: In Fall Quarter 2017 and Winter Quarter 2018, a group of three students worked independently to characterize antibody binding to two domains of this adhesin using surface plasmon resonance (SPR). Then, in Spring Quarter 2018, three more students in a physical chemistry survey class collected more antibody-antigen SPR binding data. Finally, in Summer 2018, one student continued the project by investigating binding of six extracellular and/or membrane glycoproteins and proteoglycans to recombinant fragments of the dominant adhesion domain. GENI-ACT provided these students with protocols (organizing their lab investigations into three phases) and archived their data in a common format. For example, students could see other students’ data and alter their experimental strategy to use conditions that had worked previously. As a result, students have learned thermodynamics and kinetics through experiment while collecting data that contributes to the body of established scientific knowledge, and may give a foundation for drug discovery. Several students have gone on to post-graduate study in scientific and medical fields as a result, and as they move toward their professional goals, their data remains accessible on GENI-ACT for others to continue their work.

Transferring a research project from independent research to the physical chemistry teaching lab using the online platform GENI-ACT

2019 Spring National Meeting

The official archive and repository for all ACS Meetings & Expositions abstracts and select posters or presentations.