Jae Park, associate professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Cellular and Molecular Biology, has organized a workshop on molecular biology methods and analysis for six science teachers from Knox County high schools. The workshop, held July 18 – 22, provided the participants an opportunity to isolate genomic DNA from fruitflies, amplify target genes from the genome, analyze the DNA using electrophoretic methods, learn about restriction digestion and DNA sequencing, and finally to work with some bioinformatics tools to analyze DNA sequences. The goal is to give the teachers hands-on experience with these molecular biology methods and to help them consider adapting some of these experimental and computational tools for use in their own high school classrooms. Park uses these methods in his own research on neurological development using the fruitfly Drosophila melanogaster as a model organism.
Recent Publications
Lee, G., Wang, Z., Sehgal, R., Chen, C. H., Kikuno, K., Hay, B., and Park, J. H. (2011) Drosophila caspases involved in developmentally regulated programmed cell death of peptidergic neurons during early metamorphosis. J Comp Neurol 519: 34-48.
Bahn, J. H., Lee, G., and Park, J. H. (2009) Comparative analysis of Pdf-mediated circadian behaviors between Drosophila melanogaster and D. virilis. Genetics 181: 965-975.
Choi, S. H., Lee, G., Monahan, P., and Park, J. H. (2008) Spatial regulation of Corazonin neuropeptide expression requires multiple cis-acting elements in Drosophila melanogaster. J Comp Neurol 507: 1184-1195.
Lee, G., Kim, K. M., Kikuno, K., Wang, Z., Choi, Y. J., and Park, J. H. (2008) Developmental regulation and functions of the expression of the neuropeptide corazonin in Drosophila melanogaster. Cell Tissue Res 331: 659-673.
Choi, Y. J., Lee, G., and Park, J. H. (2006) Programmed cell death mechanisms of identifiable peptidergic neurons in Drosophila melanogaster. Development 133: 2223-2232.
Lee, G., Bahn, J. H., and Park, J. H. (2006) Sex- and clock-controlled expression of the neuropeptide F gene in Drosophila. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A 103: 12580-12585.
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