With its distinctive investigative approach to learning, this best-selling laboratory manual encourages you to participate in the process of science and develop creative and critical reasoning skills. You are invited to pose hypotheses, make predictions, conduct open-ended experiments, collect data, and apply the results to new problems. The Seventh Edition emphasizes connections to recurring themes in biology, including structure and function, unity and diversity, and the overarching theme of evolution. Select tables from the lab manual are provided in Excel® format in MasteringBiology® at www.masteringbiology.com, allowing you to record data directly on their computer, process data using statistical tests, create graphs, and be prepared to communicate your results in class discussions or reports.

Once confined to four-year colleges and graduate schools, forensic science classes can now be found in local high schools as well as in two-year community colleges. The Basics of Investigating Forensic Science: A Laboratory Manual is designed for the beginning forensic science student and for instructors who wish to provide a solid foundation in ba

Exploring Biology in the Laboratory: Core Concepts is a comprehensive manual appropriate for introductory biology lab courses. This edition is designed for courses populated by nonmajors or for majors courses where abbreviated coverage is desired. Based on the two-semester version of Exploring Biology in the Laboratory, 3e, this Core Concepts edition features a streamlined set of clearly written activities with abbreviated coverage of the biodiversity of life. These exercises emphasize the unity of all living things and the evolutionary forces that have resulted in, and continue to act on, the diversity that we see around us today.

Developed for the new International A Level specification, these new resources are specifically designed for international students, with a strong focus on progression, recognition and transferable skills, allowing learning in a local context to a global standard. Recognised by universities worldwide and fully comparable to UK reformed GCE A levels. Supports a modular approach, in line with the specification. Appropriate international content puts learning in a real-world context, to a global standard, making it engaging and relevant for all learners. Reviewed by a language specialist to ensure materials are written in a clear and accessible style. The embedded transferable skills, needed for progression to higher education and employment, are signposted so students understand what skills they are developing and therefore go on to use these skills more effectively in the future. Exam practice provides opportunities to assess understanding and progress, so students can make the best progress they can.

There is much more to biology than memorizing facts in a textbook. The fun part of biology is actually doing it. This laboratory course is designed to help you develop the hands-on skills of biologist using the tools found in a typical, modern biology lab.

Fission yeast are unicellular, rod-shaped fungi that divide by medial fission. Studies using fission yeast were instrumental in identifying fundamental mechanisms that govern cell division, differentiation, and epigenetics, to name but a few. Their rapid growth rate, genetic malleability, and similarities to more complex eukaryotes continue to make them excellent subjects for many biochemical, molecular, and cell biological studies. This laboratory manual provides an authoritative collection of core experimental procedures that underpin modern fission yeast research. The contributors describe basic methods for culturing and genetically manipulating fission yeast, synchronization strategies for probing the cell cycle, technologies for assessing proteins, metabolites, and cell wall constituents, imaging methods to visualize subcellular structures and dynamics, and protocols for investigating chromatin and nucleic acid metabolism. Modifications to techniques commonly used in related species (e.g., budding yeast) are noted, as are useful resources for fission yeast researchers, including various databases and repositories. The well-studied fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe is the focus throughout, but the emerging model S. japonicus-a larger, dimorphic species with several desirable characteristics-is also covered. This manual is an important reference for existing fission yeast laboratories and will serve as an essential start-up guide for those working with fission yeast for the first time.

Over the past century, studies of the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae have helped to unravel principles of nearly every aspect of eukaryotic cell biologyfrom metabolism and molecular genetics to cell division and differentiation. Thanks to its short generation time, ease of genetic manipulation, and suitability for high-throughput studies, yeast remains the focus of research in a vast number of laboratories worldwide. This laboratory manual provides a comprehensive collection of experimental procedures that continue to make budding yeast an informative model. The contributors describe methods for culturing and genetically modifying yeast, strategies and tools (e.g., gene deletion collections) for functional analyses, approaches for characterizing cell structure and morphology, and techniques to probe the modifications and interactions of various cellular constituents (e.g., using one- and two-hybrid screens). Strategies for studying metabolomics, complex traits, and evolution in yeast are also covered, as are methods to isolate and investigate new strains of yeast from the wild. Several additional chapters are devoted to bioinformatics tools and resources for yeast biology (e.g., the Saccharomyces Genome Database). This manual is therefore an essential resource for all researchers, from graduate level upward, who use budding yeast to explore the intricate workings of cells.

The propagation of signals through the nervous system depends on rapid changes in electric potential across cell membranes. These changes are mediated by ion channels--macromolecular pores that facilitate the passage of specific ions (e.g., K+ or Na+) through cell membranes in response to various signals. Defects in ion channels can lead to diseases such as epilepsy. This laboratory manual provides state-of-the-art techniques for investigating ion channel properties and activity, particularly in the nervous system. Contributors present electrophysiological methods to examine single-channel activity in cultured cells, to study synaptic plasticity and circuit dynamics in brain slice preparations, and to perform whole-cell recordings in awake--and even freely moving--animals. The use of optogenetic tools to study synapses or small networks in organotypic slice cultures is also covered. Many of the experimental setups described can be adapted for other ion channels, cell types, or systems. The manual includes background on the structure, function, and regulation of different voltage- and ligand-gated ion channels. Therefore, it is a useful resource for all cell biologists and neuroscientists seeking to further understand the complex roles of ion channels in normal physiology and disease.