Utilizing Isolation, Purification, and Characterization of Enzymes as Project-Oriented Labs for Undergraduate Biochemistry

Senior-level biochemistry labs are mostly verification-type laboratories with little chance for exploration. We have developed a project-based biochemistry laboratory which gives them a chance to carry out a major biochemistry project. In the first quarter it is based on the purification of the enzyme lysozyme. The students are given some basic information, and then work out the details of their own procedures, make up their own solutions, and work at their own pace. Students use centrifugation, ion-exchange chromatography, spectral enzyme assays, and SDS-gel electrophoresis to purify and characterize the protein. In the second quarter students are given acid phosphatase and the basic assay for the enzyme, and then develop and carry out a method for determining the kinetic parameters of the enzyme. These experiments continue the development of laboratory independence of the students which steadily progresses in most curriculu