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DOCUMENT RESUME SE 060 256 ED 407 284 Wandersee, James H., Ed.; And Others AUTHOR Bioinstrumentation: Tools for Understanding Life. TITLE National Association of Biology Teachers, Reston, VA. INSTITUTION REPORT NO ISBN-0-941212-23-8 PUB DATE 96 NOTE 338p. National Association of Biology Teachers, 11250 Roger Bacon AVAILABLE FROM Drive #19, Reston, VA 20190-5202. Reference Materials Teacher (052) Classroom PUB TYPE Guides General (130) EDRS PRICE MF01/PC14 Plus Postage. *Biology; Chromatography; DNA; Higher Education; DESCRIPTORS *Instrumentation; *Laboratory Equipment; Microscopes; Observation; Secondary Education; Spectroscopy; Teacher Education; *Technology ABSTRACT This book was written to help introductory biology teachers gain a basic understanding of contemporary bioinstrumentation and the uses to which it is put in the laboratory. It includes topics that are most basic to understanding the nature of biology. The book is divided into five sections: "Separation and Identification" that includes chapters on (1) electrophoresis, chromatographic techniques, immunologic methods, flow "Observation" that cytometry, and centrifugation of biomolecules; (2) includes chapters on advances in light microscopy, transmission electron "Spectroscopy" that microscopy, 7.nd scanninrY electron microscopy; (3) includes chapters on absorption spectroscopy, fluoreL,c. sl2cct=7c,,--T, "Biological cross-sectional medical imaging, and infrared spectroscopy; (4) Tracing and Sensing" that includes a chapter on radionuclides; and (5) "Manipulation of Biological Molecules" that includes chapters ori-recombinant DNA, the polymerase chain reaction, and restriction fragment length polymorphisms. Chapter overviews, concept maps, margin notes, photos of real scientists and their students, overhead transparency masters, and an Internet bioinstrumentation web site directory are also included. (JRH) ******************************************************************************** Reproductions supplied by EDRS are the best that can be made from the original document. ******************************************************************************** BIOINSTRUMENTATION d. Ill/l/1/11;111,,41/71? Tools for Understanding Life PERMISSION TO REPRODUCE AND U.S. DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION Office of Educational Research and Improvement DISSEMINATE THIS MATERIAL iE UCATIONAL RESOURCES INFORMATION A HAS CENTER (ERIC) Edited by s document has been reproduced as (A eived from the person or organization a originating it. Minor changes have been made to improve reproduction quality. James H. 11.1andersee TO THE EDUCATIONAL RESOURCES Points of view or opinions stated in this document do not necessarily represent INFORMATION CENTER (ERIC) official OERI position or policy. Dennis R. Ufissing C.T. Lange BEST COPY AVAILABLE 2 BIOIFISTMEHTHT1011 Tools for Understanding Life EDITORS James H. UJandersee UEIT Professor of Biology Education Director, 15 Degree Laboratory Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, LA Dennis R. 11.1issing- Associate Professor and Program Coordinator Department of Cardiopulmonary Science Louisiana State University Medical. Center Shreveport, LA. C.T. Lange Research Assistant Professor of Biology University of Missouri ----St. Louis St. Louis MO National Rssociation of Biology Teachers ii Published by the National Association of Biology Teachers (NABT) 11250 Roger Bacon Drive, #19, Reston, Virginia 20190-5202 ISBN 0-941212-23-8 Teachers Copyright 0 1996 by the National Association of Biology contained in this book may be repro- All rights reserved. The overhead transparency masters reproduced in its entirety, by any mechani- duced for the classroom only. This book may not be photograph recording, nor may it be cal, photographic, or electronic process, or in the form of a for any other use without the per- stored in a retrieval system, transmitted, or otherwise copied mission of the publisher. Professor of Medical Technology at Cover photograph: Chapter author, Lynda Britton, Assistant senior medical technology Louisiana State University Medical Center, Shreveport, LA, instructs chain reaction (PCR) using a ther- student, Stephanie Mason, on how to perform the polymerase mal cycler. Department of Medical Communications, LSUMC Cover photograph by Stan Carpenter White Plains, Maryland. Printed in the United States of America by Automated Graphic Systems, 4 111 I"To my Ph.D. students in Biology Education at LSU, past and present Eleanor Abrams, John Trowbridge, Connie Nobles, Susan Nichols, Phyllis Griffard, Susan Tittlebaum, Mary Gail Yates, Lynda Britton, Sharon Flanagan, Knight Roddy, Kodie Jeffery, Dilek Buchholz, Jessica Scott, James Njengere, Judith Poindexter, Juliana Hinton, Jodale Ales, Marcella Hackney, and Dennis Wissing." JHW 111 "To John T. Jobe and Betty W. Johnson, who became my friends; Jimmy M. Cairo and Jim H. Wandersee, who became my mentors; and, above all, to my loving and supportive wife, 111 I Vicki, who stands with me at all times." DRW I "Early and mid-career science educators who are formally trained often find that they need self-education to help them understand contemporary advances in their discipline. To that end, and to the late Edward H. Birkenmeier, M.D., the second edition of Bioin- strumentation is dedicated." I CTL 111 111 111 111 111 5 iv Contributors I I John R. Snyder, Ph.D. Elaine Cox. Ph.D. Dean Department of Science School of Allied Health Professions Bossier Parish Community College LSU Medical Center Bossier City, Louisiana New Orleans and Shreveport, Louisiana Jerry A. White, Ph.D. I Terry S. Le Grand, B.S., RRT Research Assistant Professor Ph.D. Candidate Manager, Electron Microscope Facility Department of Physiology and Biophysics College of Agriculture, Food, and Natural LSU School of Medicine Resources Shreveport, Louisiana University of Missouri - Columbia Yee Tak Aw, Ph.D. Merton F. Brown, Ph.D. Associate Professor Professor Emeritus Department of Physiology and Biophysics Department of Plant Pathology LSU School of Medicine University of Missouri - Columbia I Shreveport, Louisiana John S. Davis, M.B.A., MT(ASCP)SC, DLM Suzanne Childers Huth, M.Ed., MT Assistant Professor and Program Director I Associate Professor of Clinical Laboratory Department of Medical Technology Science and Bacteriology School of Allied Health Professions Louisiana Tech University LSU Medical Center Ruston, Louisiana Shreveport, Louisiana Selvestion Jimes, Ph.D. Alan Abbott, Ph.D. I Professor of Biological Sciences Assistant Professor of Chemistry Department of Biological Sciences Department of Chemistry Louisiana State University - Shreveport I Louisiana State University - Shreveport Shreveport, Louisiana Shreveport, Louisiana Bridget L. Langley, M.H.S., MT(ASCP) SI Mardjohan Hardjasudarma, M.D., M.S. I Assistant Professor of Clinical Medical Hyg., FRCPC Technology Professor of Clinical Radiology and I Department of Medical Technology Ophthalmology School of Allied Health Professions LSU School of Medicine LSU Medical Center Shreveport, Louisiana I Shreveport, Louisiana Gary Lyon, M.A.T. Martha M. Juban, M.N.S. Chemistry Education Department of Curriculum and Instruction Research Associate Louisiana State University Department of Biochemistry Baton Rouge, Louisiana Louisiana State University Baton Rouge, Louisiana Kenneth E. Griswold, Jr., Ph.D. Professor and Head Mary D. Barkley, Ph.D. Department of Clinical Laboratory Science and Professor Bacteriology Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry I Louisiana Tech University Louisiana State University Ruston, Louisiana Baton Rouge, Louisiana 6 II v John Staczek, Ph.D. Associate Professor IIDepartment of Microbiology and Immunology LSU School of Medicine IIShreveport, Louisiana Lynda A. Britton, M.A., MT(ASCP) CLS (NCA) II Assistant Professor of Medical Technology Department of Medical Technology School of Allied Health Professions III LSU Medical Center Shreveport, Louisiana IIJanice Matthews-Greer, Ph.D. Clinical Assistant Professor of Research IIIAssistant Director of the Diagnostic Virology Laboratory Department of Pediatrics LSU School of Medicine 111 Shreveport, Louisiana II I I aI vii Preface 111 James H. Wandersee am deeply aware of the importance of a new or improved instrument for progress in understanding life. Over the years I have devoured every source I could find in the history of biology about the "Father of Microbiology," Antony van Leeuwenhoek 111 (1632-1723). In fact, my very first NABT convention presentation (1980) was based upon his wonderful instruments and what he saw with them. Since then, I have spoken 111 to audiences of biology teachers across the U.S. and abroad about this amateur bi- ologist, telling the tales of his amazing discoveries. Oh, the instruments he made and the applications he found for them! At a time when compound microscope lens systems were plagued by both sphe- 111 rical and chromatic aberration, this Dutch linen draper realized he could probably accomplish more with a single lens, by improving a common (toy) magnifier, the flea glass. Leeuwenhoek built and used 247 high quality, single-lens microscopes -- grinding 419 lenses, some as small as a pinhead. Not only did he build these microscopes entirely by himself, he developed methods (dark-field microscopy, microtomy, microme- try, three-axis mechanical stages, etc.) for their use that allowed him to see what no other person had ever seen before -- living protozoa, the eye of a louse, human red blood cells, Spirogyra, frog sperm, bacteria in human tooth scrapings, and so forth. Peo- ple came from all over the world just to get a glimpse through one of Antony's instru- 111 ments. His microscope extended his vision (and ours) into the microcosmos. Although technology ultimately improved the compound microscope and made single-lens microscopes obsolete for biological research, it took almost a century for it to equal what 1111 Leeuwenhoek's lenses could reveal. Even as late as 1831, the Scottish botanist, Robert Brown, of "Brownian motion" fame, discovered and named the nucleus (Latin for "little nut") as a regular feature of cells -- using a single-lens microscope. What do Leeuwenhoek's microscopes have to do with contemporary bioinstrumentation? His technological improvements illustrate this simple fact: no amount of II learning can overcome the limits of our sense organs. Sometimes biologists just have to wait to study a biological object or event until a new or improved instrument, method, do is push the or technique extends their sensory reach. Until that time, all they can for it al- current technology to its limits. Sometimes, though, that's actually enough, lows them to continue to make progress in the interim. 111 In a recent interview study of life scientists at the university level, our research than theory does. group found that instrumentation and methods drive research even more Almost every laboratory wants to use the latest instruments and the newest methods; national funding agencies see the equipping of laboratories with state-of-the-art 1111 instrumentation as the prime way to improve scientists' competitiveness and produc- tivity. Yet, the instrument is but a tool for problem solving; one that supplements, but does not replace, a well-reasoned line of research and insightful integration of new knowledge with existing knowledge. Understanding the theory of the instrument -- how it does what it claims to do, its assumptions, limitations, and idiosyncrasies -- allows the expert to filter the results, discarding some and trusting others. To para- phrase (and bowdlerize) poet Alexander Pope, a little learning and a complex instrument ("black box") are a dangerous thing! This book was written to help introductory biology teachers gain a basic understanding of contemporary bioinstrumentation and the uses to which it is put in the laboratory. It has not escaped us that the book may have other learning applications, but high school biology teachers were the audience we planned to, and did, address. After an extensive survey of major university professors who were actively pur- suing biological and medical research, we chose the 16 topics to be included in this edition. Virtually all of the first edition's content was changed or updated on the basis of this peer review process. There are so many laboratory instruments (and permuta- tions of them) in use in the life sciences that we are sure "kibitzers" will find some they think we should have included. (Why no mass spectrometer? What about biosensors? Okay, we admit we might have done the same thing!) However, we ultimately included those that the university professors we surveyed thought were most basic to understanding the nature of biology -- not the most exotic or the most expensive or the most "cutting-edge." We did not aim to be encyclopedic, but rather synoptic. We pass the baton to others for the former. The science education reform movement informs us that it is as important for students to know "how we know something in biology" as it is to know "what we know." Do you know how scientists use infrared (IR) spectroscopy to identify and determine the molecular structure of a biomolecule? Do you know how the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) "amplifies" DNA? Do you know how a flow cytometer sorts cells at a high rate of speed? Do you know how an ultracentrifuge can be used to separate mac- romolecules? Read this book and find out. The moreyou understand "how we know what we know in biology," the more your students will. Plus, there's the fun of your own "aha! experience" and the satisfaction of learning even more about your favorite subject -- biology. In the American Association for the Advancement of Science's Benchmarks for Science Literacy (1993, p. 47), we read that upon completing grades 9-12, students should understand "... the importance of technology to science ..." and that "... new technologies make it possible for scientists to extend their research in new ways or undertake entirely new lines of research" and that "the very availability of new tech- 9 nology itself often sparks scientific advances." We assure you that all of those bench- 111 marks can be pursued using knowledge gained by reading this book. We see this book as potentially helpful in attaining reform goals. 111 One last thing -- as teachers writing for teachers, we have included chapter overviews, concept maps, margin notes, photos of real scientists and their students, overhead transparency masters, and an Internet bioinstrumentation web site directory. We have edited our authors' explanations of the instruments for clarity, but we didn't water 111 down the language of science. You may find some sections to be more challenging than others -- depending on your biology background and experience. We can assure you, 111 however, that all chapters were written by persons who teach and reviewed by prac- An Elaboration states "... ticing biology teachers. The 1994 NABT Mission Statement be treated professionally in all circumstances." As former and current teachers must ... biology teachers, we have attempted to do just that. 111 ACKNOWLEDGMENTS 11 I am grateful to Professor C. T. Lange, the distinguished editor of the 1988 first edition (called simply Bioinstrumentation) and well known to NABT and BSCS associ- ates, for inviting me to undertake the principal editorship of a new edition and for gi- ving me the freedom to modify it. His support and encouragement along the way pro- vided inspiration. In addition, Professor Dennis Wissing served with great distinction 1111 in every stage of production, from coordinating the work among our many authors to tracking and transforming the manuscript from an idea to reality. He was involved in every major decision about the book, and I am deeply appreciative of all his efforts. Thanks are also due to Wayne Carley, NABT Executive Director; to Chris Chantry, Sherry Grimm, and Michele Bedsaul of the NABT Publications Department; and to 111 Professor Dick Storey (Biology Department Chair, Colorado College) of the NABT Finally, in the buck-stopping words Publications Committee for their help and advice. 1111 of a previous NABT editor, William F. McComas (1994), "I alone take full responsibil- ity for the editorial decisions that may have resulted in changes in meaning or style ... II [when the chapters were] molded into the final common format." JHW I 111 I I I 10, 111