Today was another enjoyable day at Invitrogen. We got to see the process of protein expression to protein purification. Two wonderful lab techs took us through the day. The most enjoyable part for me was spending time in the tissue culture facility where we had great discussions about fluorescence microscopy and discussed ways to design our own. Also of interest was the insect tissue culture strain the lab works with: no CO2 requirements – pretty straight forward. Would make an interesting strain to work with for student projects.

What stands out most for me, from an educational perspective was that this was primarily a demo day. We got to do pretty much nothing but watch. It is painful for a student. We need to constantly think about ways to engage students to participate in the inquiry. That’s where true meaning comes in. I think about the Chinese proverb:

“Tell me and I’ll forget, show me and I may remember; involve me and I’ll understand.”