The Molecular Biology lab (Biol 311) introduces students to a variety of techniques used in molecular biology labs to study nucleic acids. This includes solution preparation, DNA extraction and quantification, gel electrophoresis, PCR, gene cloning, bacterial transformation and many others.  Along the way, we discuss some of the chemical and physical properties of nucleic acids, the central dogma of molecular biology, DNA replication, and gene expression.  Students are also given a brief introduction to some of the bioinformatics tools used in modern labs.