BIOL 1910
Ampersand: Phage Hunters
A research-based laboratory class for first years. Students join a national experiment organized by HHMI, with the goal of isolating and characterizing bacteriophage viruses found in the soil in the St. Louis area. Laboratory work includes isolation and purification of your own phage, DNA isolation and restriction mapping, and EM characterization of your phage. Several WU phage are selected for genome sequencing over winter break, and are annotated in the spring in Bio 192, Phage Bioinformatics. Students who successfully isolate and annotate a phage may become co-authors on a scientific paper. Prereqs: High school courses in biology and chemistry, at least one at the AP or International Baccalaureate level; permission of the instructor. One hour lecture, one hour discussion, and 3 hrs lab per week. Course is for first-year students in the Phage Hunters Program only.
Instructors
Reviews
2-4 hrs/week
Good class if you’ve never done research before. There’s no tests… the majority of your grade comes from participation, 2 quizzes a semester, and a big paper you write at the end of the semester. There’s also 4-5 writing assignments a semester where you read a scientific paper and do a summary/proposed next experiment. Both professors are pretty good instructors; people complain about Hafer in 2960 but she’s pretty nice in Phage Hunters.
5/22/2024
I enjoyed both semesters of phage hunters. Prof. Shaffer is very nice.
2/11/2023
Phage Hunters was overall a good experience. Basically everyone gets an A, and I found the content interesting. Hafer, however, is blatantly rude to students and did not treat the AI with respect. Her lectures were easy to follow, but I couldn't stand how she treats others.
12/19/2022
Dr. Shaffer is an amazing professor. He cares about his students and always gives clear and helpful feedback. Moreover, he also gives useful advice for your career development (like research opportunities in the biology department). I genuinely enjoy this phage hunter program experience with Dr. Shaffer.
6/6/2022