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This Today’s Science for Tomorrow’s Scientists (TSTS) tutorial introduces current scientific research from Samuel Gellman’s group at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. Researchers in Gellman’s group design molecules with well-defined folding properties. Short polymer chains of β-amino acids (β-peptides) can adopt specific folding patterns reminiscent of naturally occurring α-peptides. β-Peptides have been designed to be biologically active as well as to possess interesting self-assembly behavior. This work has led to β-peptides that display antibiotic activity, and others that form liquid crystals. The topics covered in the grades 5–8 section of the Gellman tutorial include: - Primary structure
- Secondary structure
- Tertiary structure
- β-peptides
- Lock and key model
- Active sites
- Self-assembly
Topics covered in the grades 9–12 section of the Gellman tutorial include: - Primary structure
- Secondary structure
- Tertiary structure
- Hydrogen bonding
- Formation of peptide bonds
- β-Peptides
- Lock and key model
- Active sites
- Drug design
- Self-assembly
Screenshot of a Web page from the Gellman Research Tutorial for grades 9–12.
Similar material is presented for both middle school and high school students; however, the information is tailored to the appropriate grade level. For example, in the 5–8 section of the tutorial—when discussing the various levels of protein structure found in biological molecules—a string of beads is used to represent the molecule. In this analogy, each bead represents an individual amino acid (see the figure). By contrast, the 9–12 section of the tutorial uses Jmol images to introduce secondary and tertiary structure, which allows students to move and resize molecules with their mouse. This tutorial will allow middle and high school teachers to introduce bioorganic chemistry research while simultaneously aligning with National Science Education Standards in the physical sciences.
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