Abstract
Scientific research experiences are beneficial to students allowing them to gain laboratory and problem-solving skills, as well as foundational research skills in a team-based setting. We designed a laboratory module to provide a guided research experience to stimulate curiosity, introduce students to experimental techniques, and provide students with foundational skills needed for higher levels of guided inquiry. In this laboratory module, students learn about RNA interference (RNAi) and codon optimization using the research organism Caenorhabditis elegans (C. elegans). Students are given the opportunity to perform a commonly used method of gene downregulation in C. elegans where they visualize gene depletion using fluorescence microscopy and quantify the efficacy of depletion using quantitative image analysis. The module presented here educates students on how to report their results and findings by generating publication quality figures and figure legends. The activities outlined exemplify ways by which students can improve their critical thinking, data interpretation, and technical skills, all of which are beneficial for future laboratory classes, independent inquiry-based research projects, and careers in the life sciences and beyond.
Competing Interest Statement
The authors have declared no competing interest.
Footnotes
Funding and Conflict of Interest: Funding for this work was provided by startup funds to DQM from Stony Brook University. None of the authors has a financial, personal, or professional conflict of interest related to this work.
Copyright: This is an open-access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Updated preprint
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/5p5o5pvj35hwd0s/AADK81M6ixxMzHJmminC_IX4a?dl=0
https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rco9ptm3tql9rfg/AACzCQMThfrP8mpK3Y_w6s5Ba?dl=0