Expression proteomics has become, in recent years, a key genome-wide expression approach in fundamental and applied life sciences. This postgenomic technology aims the quantitative analysis of all the proteins or protein forms (the so-called proteome) of a given organism in a given environmental and genetic context. It is a challenge to provide…

In response to the worldwide shortage of biostatisticians, Australia has established a national consortium of eight universities to develop and deliver a Masters program in biostatistics. This article describes our successful innovative multi-institutional training model, which may be of value to other countries. We first present the issues…

Families' involvement in their children's science learning at home has numerous benefits, especially when they support children's self-initiated investigations. In a position statement on parental involvement in science education, the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA 2009) stresses the role of parents in the daily reinforcement of…

For teachers, a common difficulty when introducing scientific thinking is finding ways to engage the participation of the students. Because most scientific problems require at least some specialized knowledge to formulate and solve, it can be hard to go beyond merely discussing the steps of the scientific method and illustrating them with the…

Many graduate programmes in science now require courses in ethics. However, little is known about their reception or use. Using websites and interviews, this essay examines ethics requirements in the field of biosciences in three countries (the United States of America, the United Kingdom, and Italy) between 2000 and 2005. Evidence suggests that…

Young children are naturally curious. The desire to question, hypothesize, explore, and investigate is part of their very being. This inherent sense of inquiry provides the foundation for science with young children, from inquisitive toddlers to curious third-graders. Early childhood educators can build on children's questions, eagerness, and…

The "Under the Mistletoe" project was developed to capitalize on student curiosity about the American Christmas Mistletoe plant and draw learners into an engaging, inquiry-based exercise that incorporates numerous life science standards and collaborative research. By collecting data on host and nonhost tree size, location, and number of mistletoe…

Even though photosynthesis is an obligatory part of the science curriculum, research has shown that students often have a poor understanding of it. The authors advocate that classroom coverage of the topic of photosynthesis should include not only its biochemical properties but also the role of photosynthesis or photosynthetic organisms in matter…

At the University of Wisconsin-La Crosse, we have undertaken a program to integrate the study of bioinformatics across the undergraduate life science curricula. Our efforts have included incorporating bioinformatics exercises into courses in the biology, microbiology, and chemistry departments, as well as coordinating the efforts of faculty within…

Biology laboratories are usually designed around convenient and available subjects. For example, for animal laboratories "Daphnia magna," "Drosophila melanogaster," frogs, rats, and mice are common animals that are relatively easy to obtain, relatively cheap, and consequently lend themselves well to laboratory experimentation. On many campuses, …

Developing good record-keeping habits is essential for organizing, processing, and communicating experimental results objectively. Therefore, the authors designed an interactive method of teaching first graders to record, organize, and interpret data as they studied the life cycle of the spotted salamander ("Ambystoma maculatum"). In their…

This publication presents the Nebraska Science Standards for Grades K-12. The standards are presented according to the following grades: (1) Grades K-2; (2) Grades 3-5; (3) Grades 6-8; and (4) Grades 9-12.

Online, open access is the superior model for scholarly communication. A variety of scientific communities in physics, the life sciences and economics have gone furthest in innovating their scholarly communication through open access, enhancing accessibility for scientists, students and the interested public. Open access enjoys a comparative…

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy is widely used by chemists. Furthermore, the use of NMR spectroscopy to solve structures of macromolecules or to examine protein-ligand interactions is popular. Yet, few students entering graduate education in biological sciences have been introduced to this method or its utility. Over the last six…

Some evolutionary cognitive and developmental psychologists propose that the human mind consists of domain-specific modules. These are characterized as self-contained "mini-computers" that process information of a certain kind. In their book, "Original Intelligence," the Premacks set out to provide a synthesis of evidence from various fields in…