Background

Across all fields, research is a necessity for our future and growth. In biology, research is the foundation of why we can treat people with diseases, illnesses, conditions etc. Without the hard work and research of those biologists, we would not be able to help those who are in need. Research also helps us better understand our bodies, and other living things so we can better help all life on Earth. But this means we have to have biologists who have the right tools to succeed and discover new advancements in medicine. The lab class (MCDB 1AL) here at UCSB for MCDB1A (Molecular, Cellular, and Developmental Biology) is required in order to pass the course. General Chemistry is the same way, but when I took the labs last year I thought they were a waste of time and were way harder than the one unit they were worth. I also thought the material being taught was irrelevant to the chemistry lectures and didn’t help our understanding of the material. Since biologists must have classes that are worth their while, I decided to ask the following research question: Are the supplemental biology labs similar to real research and is it relevant to the material being taught in Intro to Biology (MCDB 1A)?

To answer this question, I have interviewed my TA, Erin Fabris, for my lab class (MCDB 1AL) to get her insight on the similarities between our labs to real research labs and the relevance to the lectures since she is the one who knows the objectives of the course. In addition, I have analyzed a real biologist’s research article and compared their methods and strategies to ours in lab. Finally, I compared the lab experiments we conducted in class to the lectures. These three things helped lead me to a conclusion that was worth the time spent.