{'fraction_non_alphanumeric': 0.01631321370309951, 'fraction_numerical': 0.0, 'mean_word_length': 5.524822695035461, 'pattern_counts': {'":': 0, '<': 0, '<?xml version=': 0, '>': 0, 'https://': 0, 'lorem ipsum': 0, 'www.': 0, 'xml': 0}, 'pii_count': 0, 'substrings_counts': 0, 'word_list_counts': {'cursed_substrings.json': 0, 'profanity_word_list.json': 0, 'sexual_word_list.json': 0, 'zh_pornsignals.json': 0}}
Design of a robust undergraduate biochemistry laboratory course based on a modified and expanded bovine serum albumin purification scheme

The ASBMB curriculum for an undergraduate degree recommends a set of skills that can be acquired only through laboratory courses and research experience. Based on a modified and expanded purification scheme for BSA, we designed a robust, reproducible, budget‐friendly, safe and inquiry‐based undergraduate biochemistry laboratory course that encompasses a lot of the skill‐sets recommended in the ASBMB curriculum. The purification scheme employed in this work has been reported in a research paper. This work not only modifies certain steps in the scheme, it includes additional steps to enhance student learning and skill acquisition. Salt precipitation, ion exchange and size exclusion chromatography were employed by students to purify BSA from cow plasma. Presence of major contaminants of BSA purification, IgGs and nucleases, were tested in the purified sample by western blotting and DNase I assay respectively. The DNase assay step provides an opportunity for students to learn basic molecular biology techniques such as plasmid isolation and restriction digestion. One major addition to the purification process is the bromocresol green‐BSA complex formation assay to precisely quantitate BSA at each step and generate a purification table. Comparison of sequences and other parameters of albumin proteins from common animals provides a bioinformatics twist to student experience. Abundance of albumin from the plasmas of common animals, cow, pig and chicken, allows for variation in the design of the course, and students can work in groups or individually. The course could be designed as a half‐semester or full‐semester biochemistry laboratory module, and a sample schedule is provided.