This course is designed to give students a hands on introduction to research in a Cell Biology Laboratory. Students will learn a variety of techniques focused on the analysis of live cells. Dictyostelium discoideum will be used throughout this course as the cell type under study. The eukaryotic amoeba is recognized as an NIH model organism which is studied in a wide variety of contexts including gene expression, cell motility and chemotaxis, development and differentiation and soil ecology.  See Dictybase for more information. Dictyostelium cells are simple and inexpensive to culture in the lab, and do not require special environments or incubators beyond normal human range temperature control.

The laboratory exercises focus on using the microscope to investigate various aspects of Dictyostelium biology. The experiments are designed to quantitatively assess each of the properties under study. Students work in pairs using fluorescence microscopes with associated video camera and computer for capturing images of cells. For the instructor there is a page that describes how this lab was set up and and the cost of assembling this equipment in the most frugal manner possible.