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A rapid introduction to neurological biochemistry using Drosophila melanogaster

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Invertebrate Neuroscience

Abstract

Short, cost-effective teaching activities are a useful way of providing an integrated view on biological processes. Here we describe a brief, hands-on workshop that allows pre-university students to explore their understanding of a neurological pathway from its chemical bases to phenotype. The workshop effectively introduces the students to data collection and analysis in an enjoyable way and at an appropriate level, determined by an end of session feedback survey. The design of the workshop can be adapted and scaled to generate diverse sessions such as university teaching practicals or summer school training workshops.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank Dianne Doubtfire and Nicola Charlton for technical support, Stephanie Ellis for administrative support, and Antje Kuhrs for discussions. Chris Elliott and Richard Maguire for fly strains. Natalie Armstrong for suggestion of the development of the workshop. Paul Shields for photography. Jack Munns for the idea of fly racing card. James Chong for critical reading of the manuscript.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Departments of Biology, University of York, York, UK

    Setareh S. Chong & Sangeeta Chawla

  2. Departments of Chemistry, University of York, York, UK

    Anthony J. Wilkinson

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  1. Setareh S. Chong
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  2. Anthony J. Wilkinson
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  3. Sangeeta Chawla
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Correspondence to Setareh S. Chong.

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Chong, S.S., Wilkinson, A.J. & Chawla, S. A rapid introduction to neurological biochemistry using Drosophila melanogaster. Invert Neurosci 18, 15 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10158-018-0220-8

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10158-018-0220-8

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