Agar Art as an Instructional Tool to Teach Inducible Promoters via Fluorescent Protein Expression

Although biochemistry is fascinating to undergraduates regardless of their major, the complexity involved requires a great deal of effort and leads many to perceive it to be an intense, facts-based course limiting personal creativity. This activity takes the fundamental knowledge associated with inducible promoters and combines it with the creativity of the student to make interesting art pieces. Using this hands-on activity, students will be able to explain the difference between a constitutive and inducible promoter, investigate how inducible promoters are controlled, and explore how different fluorescent proteins are expressed at different rates and intensities, thus affecting an individual's artwork. While this activity was designed to deepen students' understanding of promoters, it can also be used as an introductory instructional tool for discussing recombinant DNA and fluorescence in biochemistry lecture and lab courses. This activity maintains room for student innovation and is well-suited to upper-level undergraduates in biochemistry courses.