Ken Klatt, Professor of Biology
Office: Life Science Building, Room 207
Phone: (614) 587-6337
Denison Symbolic Computing Project
Download Maple Programs
[Allosteric Fun]
[Competitive Inhibition]
[DNA Sequence]
[Michaelis]
[Pathway]
I have developed five modules/simulations, written in Maple, which
I use in my sections of Biology 112, Introductory Cellular and Molecular
Biology. Three of the modules are used to help the students better
understand how the study of enzyme kinetics can provide information about the
mechanism of enzymes and the role of enzymes in cellular metabolism. One of
these simulations, Michaelis, randomly
assigns a Michaelis constant to an enzyme; and then through examination of
a rate of reaction vs. substrate concentration plot, the students are
expected to determine the Michaelis constant and make educated guesses as
the importance of this enzyme in cellular metabolism. The second
simulation, Competitive Inhibition,
demonstrates the importance of comparing the affinty of an enzyme inhibitor to
enzyme and the affinity of the substrates for the enzyme. The third simulation
Allosteric Fun, shows the students how
the metabolically-important allosteric enzymes are controlled both by
substrate concentration and allosteric modifiers.
The fourth simulation, Pathway is a
procedure written for Maple. When Pathway is called into actions, the
procedure creates a simulation in which cell biology students use enzyme
kinetic data to discover which of four different signal transduction
pathways are operating within a cell that is stimulated by a hormone. The
fifth module/simulation, DNA
Sequence, is a Maple program that trains students to perform gene
sequencing procedures, and specically to read a 'sequencing gel'. Since the
enzymes of gene sequencing and DNA replication are the same, I hope an
additional outcome of DNA Sequence in Biology 112 will be an enhanced
understanding of DNA replication by the students that use the simulation.
[Biology: Symbolic Computing]
[Biology Faculty Home Page]
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Supported by grants from the Fund for the Improvement of PostSecondary
Education
(FIPSE grant P116B30079) and the W.M. Keck Foundation
Last Update: 7/10/96
