Using protein function prediction to promote hypothesis-driven thinking in undergraduate biochemistry education

Students at the Rochester Institute of Technology and Dowling College used bioinformatics software, which they had helped develop, to predict the function of protein structures whose functions had not been assigned or confirmed. Over the course of time, they incorporated other bioinformatics tools and moved the project to the wet lab, where they sought to confirm their in silico predictions with in vitro assays. In this process, we saw so much personal and professional growth among our students that we chose to implement their approach in an undergraduate biochemistry teaching lab, which we call BASIL, for Biochemistry Authentic Scientific Inquiry Lab. This curriculum has now been implemented by thirteen faculty members on eight campuses, and we look forward to a long-range exploration of BASIL's impact on the students who enroll in courses that use the BASIL curriculum.