Written Assignment (Due Week 9)
Students will select a research article about peptide signaling or antimicrobial peptides and write a critical analysis of this paper (four pages, double-spaced, Times New Roman, 12 point font, 1 inch margins). The choice paper should be discussed with the instructor by Week 4. The assignment must be emailed to the instructor by Week 9. The first part of the paper should summarize the background, key findings, and conclusions in not more than 1–2 pages. The second and most important part of the paper should (1) critically evaluate the experimental design; (2) identify and critique the key experiments and the key controls; and (3) discuss the interpretation of the results from these experiments. Students should also address the relevance of the findings to the development of new drugs and discuss questions that remain to be elucidated in future studies.
Oral Assignment (Presented in Final Class)
Students will select a research article about peptide signaling or antimicrobial peptides and give a 15–20 minute PowerPoint presentation about this paper. The choice of the paper should be discussed with the instructor no later than Week 14. The presentation should discuss the rationale of the studies, evaluate the methodology being utilized, identify and critique the key experiments and important control experiments, critically analyze the data, and assess the conclusion. The presentation should have 5–8 slides, at least one for each section of the paper and with particular focus on the key experiment and control. Additionally, students should highlight the relevance of the findings to the development of new drugs. Students should also suggest alternative approaches to test and extend the findings of the paper.